s 




// 












'^O^A.\o^^A-^ 



?^^^ 






'--: -^ 



^,V.'^0'^'v^ftfl^A»; 






^^:c^^^-'^^'^.. 



LIBRARY OF ^CONGRESS. 

Cli.ip..?--":: Copyright No.. 

Slielf-jDA5 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. I 



«,/^/^AA/^A' 



'^^MW- 






^^^?^^^^.^>( 



^^AO;?A^0.i 



A.Ar>rv 



Vr-'rvJ-AA 



'*^^jiiiiA^^ 






tm^^^^-z^: 



mim^m0^ 









^/M^. :^^^^ 






^Aa-r* aAaaa. 






Sli|gfe,^^A 















^^'^^mfM^mm^ 



■^AA/^'^^r 



^M.->^.^.,^"^:^^. -^"^A^^..;.^ 






^^A^. 



'AAa^a^"^^c:'^^''^a 



»^^v^ft« 






^^.„AA9ftAM^^M^«M/^»^>^(^^ 



^*»^^^^ 



^^'^':yv^"*»^^ 



\ 



DREER'S LIBRARY 



^. C^ 



OPEN-AIR 

VEGETABLES 








HENRY A. DREER 

7r4 CHESTNUT STREET 
PHILADELPHIA 





1' 




S 




^^- 


^ ■-■; 


^"^FTIT^ 


Y^-;^ 




mmm^ 


te. 


Z^i:^^ 


^^t^x-'^'^ 


^*h™ 




SMfeSk..,..- f^ 




-~^^ 


1^.^^ 




»**-> 




^;^^.^^;«i 


Sc^ 




"" '"■• 


If^"-^'^ 





THE DRKER ESTABLISHMEXT AT RIVERTOX, NEW JERSEY, 



Trial Grounds 
Greenhouses 
Fern Houses 
Palm Houses 
Aquatic Gardens 



Visitors 
Welcome 



DREER'S 



Open-Air Vegetables 



A HANDBOOK BASED ON RECENT 

FIELD OBSERVATIONS AND 

TALKS WITH GARDENERS 



3 



*- ^. . 






Philadelphia 



/K 



.^'^\ 



I 



HENRY A. DREER, Incorporated 

714 Chestnut street 

1897 






COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY 
HENRY A. DREER. 



'-<• 
^y 

^ 



PREFACE. 

The purpose of this little book is to explain cultural 
requirements : then to quote the views of practical gar- 
deners. 

The various vegetables, herbs, etc., will be grouped 
botanically, for the purpose of showing their natural affin- 
ities. This classification will render cultural hints and 
instructions more intelligible. 

This book supplements a small work recently pub- 
lished (now in its second edition) called Vegetables 
Under Glass, and should be used in connection there- 
with, as there is to-day no clear dividing line between 
vegetable culture in winter and in summer. 

Henry A. Dreer, 

Incorporated. 

Philadelphia, March i, i8gy. 



The best earthly peace and happiness 
will ever be closely associated with 
the cultivation of the soil, since in 
all plant-growing operations we are 
brought face to face with Nature's 
simple yet perfect processes. 



PART I. 



CHAPTER I. 



BOTANICAL GROUPING. 

The botanical place of a plant tells something of its 
natural requirements. Long periods of cultivation have 
worked great changes in the size, quality and succulence of 
vegetables, but in every case the ancestral type is still plainly 
visible. It is possible, therefore, to get some useful and 
practical hints from an arrangement or grouping of the com- 
mon garden vegetables, based on their botanic afl&nities. The 
following has been prepared with that end in view. 

THE MAIN GROUPS. 

Thk Pulses (manure makers) : Peas, beans ; plants 
having "butterfly" shaped blossoms. 

Mustards or Crucifers (mostly hardy) : Broccoli, 
Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, collards, cress, horse- 
radish, kohl-rabi, kale or borecole, mustard, peppergrass, 
radish, ruta baga, sea kale, turnip, water cress. 

The Nightshades (mostly tender) : Potato, egg plant, 
tomato, pepper. 

The Gourds (mostly tender) : Cantaloupe, cucumber, 
gherkin, gourd, melon, musk melon, pumpkin, squash, 
watermelon. 

The Lilies (mostly hardy) : Asparagus, chives, garlic, 
leek, onion, shallot. 

The Goosefoot Group (mostly hardy) : Beet, chard, 
mangel wurzel, orach, spinach. 

The Composites (mostly hardy) : Black salsify, car- 
doon, chicory, dandelion, endive, globe artichoke, Jerusalem 
artichoke, lettuce, salsify, sunflower, tansy, tarragon, worm- 
wood. 



lO DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

The Parsley Tribe (mostly hardy) : Anise, caraway, 
carrot, celery, celeriac, chervil, coriander, cumin, dill, fennel, 
parsley, parsnip, sweet cicely. 

The Mints (mostly hardy) : Balm, horehound, lavender, 
mint, rosemary, sage, savory, sweet basil, sweet marjoram, 
thyme. 

OP VARIED KIN AND CHARACTER. 

Sweet corn, of the Grass family. 

Sweet potato, of the Convolvulus family. 

Rhubarb and sorrel, of the Buckwheat family. 

Okra or gombo, of the Mallow family. 

Corn salad, of the Valerian family. 

Strawberry, of the Rose family. 

Borage, of the Borage family. 

Caper, of the Caper family. 

Rue, of the Rue family. 

Bene and martynia, of the Bignonia family. 

Nasturtium, of the Indian Cress family. 

Mushroom, a fungus. 

Chufa, a sedge. 

In Part III. of this book the above groups are com- 
mented upon and explained in some detail, and certain 
significant facts concerning them pointed out. 



J. H. Hale says it is essential to be a member of a good, 
working horticultural society. 



CHAPTER II. 



AT THE BEGINNING. 

Without regard to the size of the garden (except iu towns 
or villages where space is too limited), provision should be 
made for the use of the horse. The day of the spade is past, 
except in borders, seed beds or frames— though the Philadel- 
phia cold frame gardeners use a horse even there. Horse 
labor is so economical, comparatively, that hand labor cannot 
compete with it. 

The garden should be laid out the longest way, to avoid 
unnecessary turning, with rows two or two and a-half feet 
apart. A well-trained horse will work rows only twenty 
inches apart, but a two-foot width is better. 

The land should be naturally rich and deep. The drain- 
age must be made perfect. The exposure is less material 
now than formerly. Gardeners once worked for earliness, 
but now they find profits mainly in quality. A northern 
slope is well adapted to many special purposes, such as the 
wintering of hardy crops, like spinach, or the production of 
late strawberries. The winter sun has hostile qualities, as 
well as beneficial effects, and every exposure of ground has 
something to commend it. A deep and rich soil anywhere 
can be turned to advantage in gardening. 

The slope should be gentle, to avoid washing of the soil 
when not under a crop ; though there is less reason to have 
bare ground now than before the advent of Crimson clover. 
This crop and the vetches promise to overturn many old 
American practices. 

With the aid of a hundred tons of manure per acre great 
results can be obtained from deep soil that is well under- 
drained. American manuring seldom goes beyond fifty tons, 



12 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

though the city market gardeners sometimes approach the 
IOC-ton mark. English gardeners have gone as high as two 
hundred tons of rotted manure on deeply plowed and sub- 
soiled land. Whether the English results justify the outlay 
will be an open question in America — until we do the same 
here. 

The question of manuring will be mentioned in another 
chapter. It is good policy to feed plants somewhat as we 
feed animals — often and at regular intervals ; for instance, to 
manure liberally for every crop. 

The vegetable garden, as necessarily as the farm, must 
be worked on a systematic rotation, notwithstanding the 
frequent application of manure ; otherwise a great waste of 
manure will occur, owing to the lack, perhaps, of a single 
element. 

Crop diseases are liable to occur in land which is simi- 
larly treated year after year. 

It is not common to look to the vegetable garden for 
landscape effects, but no expert gardener is unmindful of the 
fact that appearances have a good deal to do with the pleas- 
uie that follows successful work. It may, therefore, be sug- 
gested that the vegetable garden be laid out in a way that 
will permit the taller things, like corn, pole beans, etc., to 
always occupy what may be termed the background, while 
the perennials, like asparagus and rhubarb, come next, with 
the low annuals'in the foreground. In some places there are 
no such things as " background " and " foreground," but in 
most situations these terms are applicable, and can be recog- 
nized in practice. 

Corn and beans " rotate " quite well, as one is a pulse 
and the other a grass ; and the whole group of low annuals 
can be pushed or shifted so as to bring them into fresh ground 
each year. 

A horse with a modern steel-tooth cultivator will do a 
vast amount of work in a day, and do it well. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 13 

under-glass work. 
The open-air gardener must, of course, have a number 
of cold-frame and hot-bed sashes, and for hints on such work 
the reader is referred to our little book called Vegetables 
Under Glass, published a few months before this one. It 
is unnecessary here to repeat the information therein con- 
tained, as these two volumes are intended to supplement 
each other. 



Uncorrupt and happy days were those 

When Roman consuls exercised their hoes ; 

Whose leisure hours in country cares were spent, 

And whose diversions all were innocent. 

Oft their own arbours furnished out their feast. 

And thus their fruits and sallads relished best. 

Art of Gardening (author unknown). 



CHAPTER III. 



FERTILIZERS. 



English experiments, conducted with great care through 
many decades, show that wheat can be permanently grown 
without the return of any kind of manure to the soil. The 
amount of the crop is not large enough to be profitable, but 
the experiments prove that the annual decomposition of the 
rocky constituents of the soil is no small contribution to our 
agricultural wealth. In other words, the formation of soil is 
not a very slow operation. Water, air, frost and sun join 
forces in tearing apart the sand grains and fitting them for 
plant food. 

In practical agriculture and horticulture, however, 
nature's restorative processes are too slow, and the farmer 
and gardener must resort to manuring. 

It is found in all cases that the soil is able to take care 
of itself in supplying plant food except with respect to three 
chemical requisites. These are nitrogen, phosphoric acid 
and potash. 

Speaking in general terms, nitrogen is essential to the 
stem of the plant, potash to the fruit, and phosphoric acid to 
the seed. 

Barnyard manure contains all of these desirable and 
essential aids to plant growth, and is said to be a "com- 
plete" fertilizer. An artificial manure which contains all 
three of these requisites is said to be a " complete ' ' fertilizer. 

Barnyard manure is rich in nitrogen, and, when used in 
excess, produces such a growth of stem that our grain crops 
are apt to lodge. The result is too much straw and too little 
grain. 

Wheat farmers, therefore, demand a good deal of phos- 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 1 5 

phoric acid in their fertilizer, and fruit-growers ask for potash. 
These facts accord with the above general statement. 

Vegetable growers need ' ' complete ' ' manures to meet 
their various requirements, though special manures for 
special crops may be used to advantage at times. But, 
exceptions excepted, it is best for the market gardener to use 
' ' complete ' ' fertilizers, and by a rotation of crops avoid 
losses that might otherwise occur. 

Barnyard manure, properly fermented, is the best thing 
that a gardener can employ. This manure, spread green 
upon the soil, is not a desirable application in gardening, for 
several reasons. Green manure usually contains the seeds of 
grasses, and often the seeds of weeds, and it is not at once 
available as plant food. Its thorough fermentation kills the 
seeds that it contains, renders it fit for immediate use by 
plant roots, and insures a quick return for labor invested. 
No serious loss of chemical value occurs during the prepara- 
tion of stable manure by turning and heating, though a ' 
heavy loss may occur if it is allowed to lie in neglected heaps 
about the premises, to become the prey of hostile fungi or to 
be leached by the rains. ' ' Fire fang, ' ' aided by leaching and 
fermentation, may easily reduce by one-half the chemical 
value of a pile of manure in a single year. 

Cheapest Commercial Sources. The cheapest 
known source of nitrogen, at the present time, is Crimson 
clover, or some other member of the pulse family. The 
clovers, peas, beans, vetches, tares, lupines, and all the 
plants of this great and useful botanical group, seem to have 
the power of taking nitrogen directly from the air, or from 
the air in the soil, by means of little lumps on their roots, 
which have been called " bacteroid tubercles." It is not 
necessary here to say much about the tubercles, except to 
remark that agricultural chemists now place a high money- 
producing value upon all plants having them. Such plants 



i6 dreek's open-air vegetables. 

are manure-makers of the highest practical value. To get 
nitrogen (the most expensive element of all fertilizers, both 
natural and artificial) we therefore need only go to Crimson 
clover, peas, or beans, and after plowing under the crop add 
phosphoric acid and potash in their common forms. 

The cheapest commercial form of phosphoric acid at this 
time is ground bone or dissolved rock. Either is good if 
bought under the guarantee of a reliable dealer. 

The cheapest form of potash is the muriate or the 
sulphate ; and any honest dealer in fertilizers may be trusted 
to furnish such an article. Wood ashes is a perfect source of 
potash, and when that can be had no other source need be 
sought. 

As to some other available sources of valuable fertilizers, 
often carelessly lost, the reader is referred to Chapter VI. 



"Vacant lot farming," in the vicinity of New York, 
devised to yield profitable employment to the poorer classes, 
has had the effect of emphasizing the great commercial possi- 
bilities of small pieces of land under high culture. 



CHAPTER IV. 



DRAINAGE. 



Drainage aims to secure a quick disposition of surface 
water. On well- drained lands (even on clay soils) but little 
water will run off or over the surface during heavy falls of 
rain. Most of the rain will enter the ground. 

Good drainage aerates the soil, without drying it. It 
facilitates the quick action of manures and fertilizers by 
putting the soil in proper mechanical condition for the rapid 
growth of plants. It makes the soil warmer, thus helping 
spring growth and deferring the effects of frost in autumn. 

In a word, good drainage is essential to good horticulture. 

As to construction of drains, their cost, etc., the problem 
is not necessarily a serious one. Much land is unlerlaid by 
gravel or rock, or porous subsoil of some sort, and needs no 
artificial draining of any kind. 

On the other hand, drainage is emphatically needed 
wherever the land is wet or soggy for even a few hours after a 
rainfall ; and in such situations the labor of laying drains 
will be speedily rewarded in the better results secured. L,and 
of this character frequently tells of its need of drainage by 
producing a crop of rushes and sedges. 

Told briefly, the problem of the drain maker is to find an 
underground channel, with good discharge, capable of receiv^- 
ing the surplus water of the soil ; the deeper the drain below 
the surface the wider its lateral influence. 

As a rule the main drain should occupy the lowest 
natural course ; that is, the course which the surface water 
follows in passing off the land. Such a main line, say three 
or four feet under the natural surface, may solve the whole 
problem ; if not, a lateral drain may be brought in by means 
of a Y tile at any desired point. This is on the assumption 

17 



i8 dreer's open-air vegetables, 

that tile is employed for drain making. Stone and even 
wooden drains are sometimes used, but the round tile is 
believed to be the best device now on the market. 

Tile could in 1896 be bought for $15 per thousand for 
the 3-inch size, without collars, on cars at Albany, New 
York ; and elsewhere at about the same rates. A thousand 
tiles will weigh about 4500 lbs., and as each tile is 13 inches 
long this number will be sufficient for about 1083 feet of 
ditch. Collars are wholly unnecessary in most cases, though 
sometimes of service in soft places, to prevent the ends of the 
tiles from getting out of place. 

An elaborate system of drainage can be avoided, some- 
times, by locating a hidden spring and leading its waters 
away from the land made wet by its flow ; but in really deep, 
valuable land the best and most thorough system of drainage 
that can be devised will be found in every way desirable. 

Under low culture the sum of $10 per acre would be a 
serious charge to make against a large area for drainage, 
while under high culture on a small area the sum of $200 per 
acre for drainage might not be unwarranted. Comparatively 
speaking, there are but few locations that would either need 
or justify the latter charge ; but where an acre of land is to 
produce a thousand dollars per year in garden stuff the 
operator must expect a heavy outlay in making ready for 
high culture. 

It is held by practical operators that the drainage belt 
increases rapidly in width as the drain is put further below 
the surface ; that a drain four feet deep will take the water 
from a strip twice as wide as one laid but three feet below the 
surface ; and that a depth of five feet will in practice really 
double the width of the four-foot drainage belt. 

On land with a double (convergent) slope the plan above 
mentioned is advisable, while land with a single slope must 
be drained on the gridiron pattern. A simple, feasible system 
is to lay small round tiles (say two-inch size) in lines thirty 
feet apart and three feet under the surface of the ground. 
Good drainage pays in dollars. 



CHAPTER V. 



IRRIGATION. 

Though there are ways of mitigating the eflfects of 
drouth, such as the creation of a "dust blanket" by the 
constant cultivation of the surface soil, the market gardener 
of to-day is subjected to a dangerous financial risk unless he 
is provided with means for artificial irrigation. The "dust 



^-'■■' 




OPEN-FIELD IRRIGATION OF CUCUMBERS. 

Crosby Brothers, Arlingtuu, Massachusetts. July 4, 
It 



20 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

blanket" is good, as it effectually breaks up the capillary 
tubes by which the ground water finds its way to the air ; 
but it does nothing more. It adds no water to the soil, and a 
crop loss is always possible. A drouth may come just at the 
critical period of growth, when a full supply of moisture is 
absolutely necessary to the quick development so essential to 
high quality in vegetables and fruits. 

Speaking of this vital point, so good an authority as 
W. W. Rawson, of Boston, says that the old plan of trusting 
to rain for a water supply is no longer safe. ' ' It becomes 
more and more evident every year," says Mr. Rawson, "that 
such a course will ruin the man who follows it ; * * * all 
crops (some more than others), in addition to every other aid 
that can be given them, will need, besides, at certain times, 
abundant watering. ' ' 

Observations made during the year 1S96, by the firm of 
Henry A. Dreer, extending through several States, brought 
out many interesting and valuable points on this matter of 
irrigation. 

At the many-acred market gardens of Mr. Rawson, at 
Arlington, near Boston, great iron pipes were seen on the 
surface of the ground. These iron pipes contain water under 
pressure, and by the attachment of rubber hose, 100 feet long, 
the water is distributed wherever wanted. The Rawson idea 
is an inch of water per week on rapidly growing crops ; not 
more. The iron pipes can be moved from place to place in 
spring or fall, if desired, but are stationary during the 
summer season. "Seven or eight hosemen at work, throw- 
ing water on beds of parsley, celery, etc." (Notes of July 
14, 1896). The Rawson water supply is from a private 
pumping station. 

The dragging from place to place of heavy rubber hose 
is a serious matter, and another Massachusetts plan must be 
mentioned, where the entire operation is automatic. The 
Hittinger Brothers, at Belmont, have elevated iron pipes, 



DREER'S open-air vegetables. 21 

containing water under twenty-five pounds' pressure, the 
distribution being effected by revolving sprinklers on lateral 
or branch pipes. This arrangement puts the pipes out of 
the way of the plow and cultivator, saves the time and labor 
of several men, effects a perfect distribution of water on the 
plan of falling rain, and is the most satisfactory and economi- 
cal system within our present knowledge. It is quite fully 
described in Vegetables Under Glass. 

Under a system of irrigation it is entirel)^ safe to use arti- 
ficial fertilizers to an extent that would otherwise be danger- 
ous, if not wasteful. With water a full ton of high-grade 
phosphate may be employed, in addition to stable manure. 
The fertilizer will return in crop forms. 

John Repp, Glassboro, N. J., pumps water from a pond, 
uses a two-inch main, and runs parallel branch iron pipes 
on the gridiron plan to water a three-acre tract. The two- 
inch permanent main is underground ; the one-inch laterals 
(seventy feet apart) are laid on the surface. The laterals 
have T-joints, with cocks, at thirty-six-feet intervals, for the 
attachment of rubber hose pipes. 

John G. Gardner, West Conshohocken, in summer 
moves a boiler from the barn to a position near a running 
stream, attaches a steam pump, and by means of rubber hose 
pipes irrigates a large garden. In 1895 ^^^^ hundred thou- 
sand celery plants were thus watered. 

William Embree, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, takes 
the water of a hillside spring and leads it to the rows of his 
truck patch, turning it into the rows where the land is 
highest, and permitting it to find its way by gravity to all 
parts of the garden. 

James Jordan, of Auburn, Rhode Island, near Provi- 
dence, irrigates his garden with a long rubber hose, obtain- 
ing water from a public street main. 

Irrigation in some parts of New England is the rule, 
while in New Jersey and Pennsylvania it is still the excep- 



22 DREER'S open-air VEGETABLES. 

tion. It must come, however, wherever the highest results 
are expected. Mr. Rawson's comment is warranted. It 
cannot be dispensed with, for such a course will "ruin the 
man who follows it." The market gardener pays out much 
money for rent, for drainage, for fertilizer, for deep culture, 
for good seeds, for labor, and must not incur the risk of crop 
failure from drouth. Good drainage and irrigation remove 
most of the uncertainties of the weather. 



JOHN REPP S PLAN. 

Of the several methods above outlined that of John 
Repp has certain features of wide application. The diagram 
will show the operation of the system. 

Mr. Repp uses the ground thus irrigated for strawber- 
ries. The strawberry rows are set twenty-eight and twenty 




JOHN repp's IEEIGATION SYSTEM. 

inches apart, alternately, all across the patch. This permits 
of horse cultivation. At the last working, say in July, the 
twenty-inch rows are worked out deep in the centre. The 
twenty-eight-inch rows are afterwards worked shallow, and 
all runners are thrown over into the twenty-inch rows, where 
they take root. 



DRKER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 23 

The final result is that beds twenty inches wide are 
formed, with hollow or depressed centres, along which 
water from the rubber pipes finds its way during the spring 
irrigation. The twenty-eight-inch open spaces are the paths 
used by the berry pickers. 

The operation of the pump at the pond is practically 
incessant during the fruit-setting season, for the rubber pipes 
are constantly shifted, and when the patch has been thor- 
oughly soaked (three days' work) it is time to start again at 
the beginning. 

Mr. Repp's 1896 patch contained three acres. He has 
sold $1500 worth of strawberries from a two-acre patch, and 
the business is still profitable. His system of irrigation per- 
mits a shifting of the surface pipes to the other side of the 
main, so that the strawberry bed can be put upon new 
ground at intervals of a few years. 



CHAPTER VI. 



TWENTY- FIVE DOHARS IN GOLD. 

In this chapter plain talk is necessary, for there is a great 
and unpardonable money waste at the average rural home in 
America. 

The practical gardener is always confronted with the 
need of fertilizers, and the housekeeper is always confronted 
with the problem of quickly and safely disposing of many 
waste products ; yet a full co-operation between gardener and 
housekeeper is not yet in successful general practice in 
America. 

The waste of every house includes fecal matter, chamber 
slops, kitchen and wash water, bones, ashes, bits of food, the 
trimmings of meats and vegetables, and many minor things. 

There seems to be no better way to show the volume and 
the value of this waste than to assert that it is annually 
worth on the average not less than twenty-five dollars in 
gold, expressed in terms of ordinary commercial fertilizer 
value. This estimate is based on the assumption that the 
average family contains four persons, and that the daily 
waste from each individual is worth at least two cents, from 
the standpoint of the agricultural chemist. The single item 
of nitrogen in the urine is placed by chemists at more than 
half a cent. 

This " twenty -five dollars in gold" is not only thrown 
away and lost, but, worse than that, the material which it 
represents commonly goes where it will do the most harm. 
It too frequently pollutes the water supply, winning for rural 
communities higher typhoid statistics than the figures shown 
by crowded cities. This system is wrong, both economically 
and morally. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 25 

The great item of "doctors' bills" cannot be expressed 
in dollars so well as can the value of the lost fertilizer ; but 
when discomfort, ill health, even death, are taken into 
account, it will be seen that another twenty-five dollars is 
represented in the term " poisoned water." 

The deep cesspool is neither necessary nor wise. Fecal 
matter (night soil) is properly disposed of by converting it 
into loam : not by merely burying it, but by actually changing 
it into soil. 

The upper stratum of every garden or field is different 
from the subsoil. It is usually darker in color, and is better 
fitted to support plant life than the underlying clay. When 
the clay is turned up by deep plowing it speedily becomes 
top-soil, and under good culture it finally assumes the color 
and character of the upper layer. New soil has, in fact, been 
made of it. 

We are just beginning to understand the real character 
of "good soil." Agricultural observers now recognize the 
presence in the upper soil of countless numbers of bacteria ; 
microscopic forms of life. These bacteria depend for their 
existence on the conditions which exist just under the surface 
of the ground — air, moisture and organic matter. They 
cannot live at great depths in the earth, and are most numer- 
ous where the soil is richest. 

Nature assigns to the bacteria the quick disposal and 
transformation of all dead or waste matter which enters the 
soil. This is her laboratory, and these are her workers in a 
noble service. 

The upper soil, therefore, is the proper destiny of all 
waste organic substance. The sunshine, the air, the rain, the 
myriads of little workers in the soil — these all combine to 
produce a quick destruction of old forms and fit them for a 
new cycle of organic existence. 

A hint may be had from the stable. Cow manure if 
dried remains unchanged. If thrown into a heap it lies for a 



26 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



long time in a cold, wet condition. If put into the soil, on 
the contrary, it quickly ceases to be manure. In three weeks 
time (more or less) it has changed its mechanical condition, 
has become dark in color, and falls to pieces like soil when 
turned up with spade or plow. It has become soil in fact. 

Nothing could be more remarkable than the speed and 
the thoroughness with which the little soil workers (aided by 
heat, warmth and moisture) do their work ; and when 
nature's economy is fully understood no more deep pits or 




LOST WEALTH AND LOST HEALTH. 
[From a sketch made by Dr. Theobold Smith, of Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, pub- 
lished by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in Farmers' Bulletin No. 43, 
"Sewage Disposal on the Farm," written by Dr. Smith.] 

cesspools will be constructed, for the friendly bacteria cannot 
work far under ground, and fecal waste poured into deep 
vaults or cesspools falls a prey to highly offensive ferments, 
and becomes a menace to subterranean streams of water. 

Experiments prove that rich soil can be used over and 
over again for the conversion of excreta into loam, though 
at rural homes there is no need to use soil for the purpose 
more than once. 

Still, the fact is interesting as showing the profound 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABI.ES. 27 

change which occurs in thus quickly converting oflfensive 
matter into harmless, fertile, non-odorous loam. 

Instead of using the product a second time for the same 
purpose the market gardener should employ fresh soil, and 
thus secure the greatest possible bulk of highly enriched loam. 

No pit or cesspool in the rural districts should be more 
than two feet deep, and the sides and bottom should be laid 
with stone or brick, and well cemented, so as to permit no 
liquid to enter the soil. 

The method of saving excreta and all other waste matter 
is purely a local question in every case. No high-priced 
appliances or devices are essential. No especial tools, imple- 
ments or methods are demanded. Cleanliness and decency 
are desired by every household, and are within everybody's 
reach, and all considerations demand the proper disposition 
of the household waste. Good morality sanctions no wanton 
sacrifice of either wealth or health. 

As to other household products that should go to the 
soil, little need be said. Sifted ashes makes a good absorbent. 
Chamber slops belong on the compost heap, along with all 
refuse from the kitchen, the heap to be frequently coated 
with fresh earth. Wash water, including the flow from the 
kitchen sink, should reach land that can be cultivated, for it 
carries with it every day appreciable amounts of valuable 
fertilizers. 

The cost of labor in America is responsible for much of 
the carelessness about home-produced fertilizers. It has been 
thought cheaper to buy than to save. The time for a change 
has now arrived, and if stern necessity demands wiser meth- 
ods the results may be beneficial in more than one way. 

The barn waste is a serious loss in many places — greater 
in dollars, perhaps, than the loss at the house. It may be 
less hostile to human health, but it is wholly inexcusable, 
as it is a constant threat to the health of the farm animals 
themselves. 



28 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

The Japanese carry the house waste (night soil) to the 
fields in jars, and thus dispose of it wisely and economically. 
Several European cities use the earth closet system, which 
has much to commend it as compared with the water carriage 
plan of American cities and towns. In rural America the 
most economic, effectual and satisfactory disposition of night 
soil will be found in the use of loam, as already indicated, 
either on the earth closet principle or by a method which 
will preserve the product (in prepared condition) under a 
shed until needed for crop-stimulating purposes. 

A Little Technical Talk. It is now known that 
there are many kinds of minute destructive agents which 
prey upon organic matter. 

Take the case of milk, for instance. There are ferments 
(caused by bacteria) which are friendly to the dairyman, and 
others which are distinctly hostile, the latter producing rank, 
low-grade butter. 

The same is true concerning manures. There are 
destructive ferments whose products are wholly foul and 
offensive, and there are other processes whose working is 
entirely unobjectionable. 

Putrefaction is the word descriptive of the foul-smelling, 
abominable process which goes on in the dark depths of the 
cesspool. 

Humification (or nitrification) is the word descriptive of 
the process which goes on in the upper soil. 

The money-seeking, health-seeking market gardener will 
therefore try to "humify" rather than "putrefy" the house- 
hold waste. 

The stacking and turning of stable manure, preparatory 
to putting on the land, is a humifying process, as it greatly 
aids nitrification while distinctly discouraging putrefaction. 
Such manure makes quick plant food. 

Humification preserves value, while putrefaction wastes 
the volatile elements and robs the manure of half its worth. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 29 

The Value of Ashes. Wood ashes is particularly 
valuable for fruit trees, on account of the potash which it 
contains. Coal ashes has some little value as a fertilizer, 
because of the organic refuse burned in every kitchen fire. 
Its chief value, however, is for putting on heavy soils, which 
it helps to open ; for draining beds of bulbs in autumn, where 
it also affords protection ; for working into cucumber and 
melon hills, where its effect is beneficial. It is worth decidedly 
more than the cost of spreading. When dry it is a good 
absorbent of liquids, and may be used for that purpose. 



Cottage gardens, in a moral and political point of view, 
are of obvious importance, attaching the cottager to his home 
and to his country, by inducing sober, industrious and 
domestic habits, and by creating that feeling of independence 
which is the best security against pauperism. 



CHAPTER VII. 



IMPLEMENTS, SEEDS, ETC. 




Few tools are absolutely essential to success if the 
gardener be enthusiastic. It is far more important to know 
what should be done than to have the tools with which to do 
the work. It is better to understand that deep culture, heavy 
manuring and irrigation are necessary than to have a well- 
stocked implement house without an appreciation of cultural 
requirements. Enthusiasm and industry will soon supply all 
needed tools, though the gardener be penniless at the start. 

As commercial conditions are at this time, it is abso- 
lutely imperative that soil-workers keep well within their 
financial circumstances. This can only be done by limiting 
the hired help to the minimum point and by concentration 
in cultural operations. 

The universal American disposition is to work a ten-acre 
garden on a five-acre capital ; and American farms are mostly 
too large. On small gardens and farms the implements and 
tools would be better, the seeds and seeding would be better, 
the fertilizing and cultivation would be better, and the result- 
ing crops would be comparatively larger and more profitable. 
Quality counts to-day for more than quantity in net profits. 

A few essentials underlie success in present-day horticul- 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 31 

tural operations, and the gardener must equip himself as fast 
as possible with the best and simplest tools and devices for 
securing these ends. In addition to good seeds, without 
which nothing can be done, the essentials in gardening are 
good drainage, deep plowing and thorough cultivation, heavy- 
manuring, irrigation, spraying, and good marketing. 

As to seeds, the best plan is to buy of a dealer whose 
reputation will not permit the sale of anything that is cheap 
or of uncertain germinating quality. 

Drainage, spraying, irrigation and marketing are dis- 
cussed elsewhere. The use of a subsoil plow is almost una- 
voidable, and modern invention has put several nearly perfect 
implements upon the market. The steel-tooth cultivator, 
which can be set to narrow rows, is indispensable. The 
manure cart and the market wagon will not be forgotten ; 
and however cheap the latter may be, it must be kept abso- 
lutely clean. 

The most essential implements, in addition to the above, 
and besides the usual rakes, spades, etc., are the seed drill 
and the hand cultivator or wheel hoe. The latter implement 
is a great saver of time. It is to man power what the dia- 
mond point cultivator is to horse power. 

There is no poorer economy than an untidy market 
wagon, with fruit offered in old, soiled boxes, and vegetables 
presented in ill-washed or ill-bunched condition. 



Soft roll your incense, herbs, and fruits and flowers, 
In mingled clouds to Him, whose sun exalts. 
Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints. 

— Thomson. 



CHAPTER VIIT. 



SPRAYING. 




The market gardener as well as the fruit grower has need 
for the services of the spraying pump, though to a less extent. 
Here are a few formulae : 

Bordeaux Mixture. Copper sulphate, 4 lbs.; un- 
slacked lime, 3 lbs.; water, 40 gallons. Dissolve the copper 
sulphate in 6 gallons of water. Slake the lime in as small 
an amount of water as possible. Mix and stir thoroughly. 
Dilute to 40 gallons. Use wooden vessels — not iron or tin. 

Ammoniacal Copper Carbonate. Copper carbonate, 
I ounce, dissolved in ammonia; water, 12 gallons. (Eau 
Celeste is prepared in somewhat the same way). 

Potassium Sui^phide. Potassium sulphide (liver of 
sulphur), 3 ounces ; water, 10 gallons. 

Copper Sulphate Solution. Copper sulphate, i lb ; 
water, 25 gallons ; or, water 250 gallons ; or, water 500 gal- 
lons — giving solutions of varying strength. 

Paris Green. Paris green, i lb.; water, 250 gallons. 

32 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 33 

(Not to be used with ammonia solutions, but may be used 
with Bordeaux mixture). Keep well stirred, as it does not 
really dissolve. 

Hellebore. Fresh white hellebore, i or 2 ounces ; 
water, 5 gallons. 

Pyrethrum or BuHACK. Fresh pyrethrum powder, i 
or 2 ounces ; water, 5 gallons. 

Kerosene Emulsion. Soft soap, i quart ; kerosene, i 
pint; water, 6 to 11 pints. Warm the soap until liquefied; 
then remove from near the fire, on account of danger from the 
kerosene. Add the kerosene and agitate violently by stirring, 
or with a force pump, until a white, creamy mixture has 
been formed. When the oil is fully emulsified it will not 
separate from the soap, even after standing. Dilute with 
water, even up to twenty-five times as much water as kero- 
sene. Do not use the kerosene emulsion on plants of the 
gourd family — squash, cucumber, melons, etc., as the foliage 
is liable to injury. 

The Bordeaux mixture, the Ammoniacal Carbonate of 
Copper and Copper Sulphate solution are the best known 
agents for preventing and destroying fungous diseases, such 
as rusts, rots and blights ; though sulphur is also good. 

Paris green, hellebore and pyrethrum are the best known 
agents for destroying insects which get their food by biting. 

Kerosene emulsion is the best known remedy for insects 
which get their food by sucking. Tobacco water is also an 
effective remedy for sucking insects. 

The practical market gardener is especially concerned 
with spraying, as it applies to the destruction of insects and 
the prevention of fungous diseases. Insects are usually con- 
tended with after their arrival, while fungous troubles are 
better anticipated and prevented than cured. 

There are a number of excellent spraying machines on 
the market, for hand power and for horse power. The former 
vary in price from $1 to $20. The horse power spraying 
devices are more costly. 



CHAPTER IX. 




INSECTS AND DISEASES. 

Plant enemies are of two kinds— insect 
and fungous. Insects attack vegetables in per- 
fect health. Fungi as a rule attack plants 
which are either weak or sickly. This rule is 
not absolute, but it is always true that healthy, 
vigorous plants have a better chance to over- 
come their enemies than those which are enfee- 
bled. High culture and quick rotation are 
therefore the best of all safeguards against insects and fungi, 
but the gardener must be ever on the alert to check the 
encroachments of his foes. 

Hints have already been given for the preparation of 
insecticides and fungicides. It is now proper to give a list of 
the more common insect and fungous enemies, with one or 
more of the best known remedies, checks or preventives. 

The gardener must of course recognize the foe before he 
can successfully conduct a campaign against it. If it is a 
biting insect or worm the arsenites or other poison must be 
used. If it is a sucking insect (having a snout or proboscis 
for reaching the sap of the plant) it must be attacked through 
its breathing tubes, on the sides of its body, and a kerosene 
or tobacco preparation must be employed. If the disease is a 
rust or smut or rot the trouble is probably fungous in char- 
acter, and the Bordeaux mixture or other copper solution 
or sulphur must be used. 

The word "insecticide" means something that will kill 
an insect. The word ' ' fungicide ' ' means something that 
will prevent or kill a fungus. 

The preparation and application of the following reme- 
dies demand the exercise of good judgment and common 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 35 

sense. They must be well made, in order that they may be 
effective, and their handling must be careful, so that they 
may not poison human beings or domestic animals. 

COMMON INSECT FOES AND REMEDIES. 

Ants. Bisulphide of carbon ; a tablespoonful six inches 
below surface of ground. Cover with earth, (Keep away 
from fire ; explosive.) 

Aphis, Aphides, Plant Lice. Kerosene emulsion ; 
tobacco dust, tobacco water, tobacco smoke. 

Asparagus Beetle. Paris green ; poultry. 

Army Worm. Fire ; arsenical spray ; kerosene emul- 
sion ; use of field roller. 

Bean Weevil. See pea weevil. 

Cabbage Maggot. Carbolic acid emulsion ; bisulphide 
of carbon in soil (not touching root) ; new location. 

Cabbage Worm. Pyrethrum mixed with flour ; salt 
water ; air-slaked lime ; catching the butterflies. 

Cut Worm. Kainit ; muriate of potash. These are to 
be plowed or harrowed in. Sweetened bran containing Paris 
green is a remedy. 

Cucumber Beetle (striped). Arsenites in flour ; ashes I 
slaked lime ; road dust ; tobacco powder ; turpentine in air- 
slaked lime. 

Flea Beetle. Tobacco dust ; wood ashes ; lime ; 
plaster. 

May Beetle. Poultry. 

Melon Beetle. Hellebore. 

Onion Maggot. See cabbage maggot ; new soil. 

Parsley Worm. Hand picking ; arsenites. 

Pea Weevil. Subject mature seeds to temperature of 
145° for an hour; bisulphide of carbon with seeds in tight 
receptacle. 

Potato Bug. Paris green. 

Radish Maggot. See cabbage maggot ; new soil. 

Rose Bug. Spray with Bordeaux mixture to which has 



36 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

been added Paris green at rate of 4 ounces to 50 gallons. 
Then immediately dust with fresh pyrethrum. Do the work 
in the evening. Wash foliage with water next morning. 
Repeat if necessary, doing the work thoroughly, with strong 
pyrethrum. (This is Peder Pendersen's remedy). 

Squash Vine Borer. Catch moths at twilight ; cover 
fourth joint, so that new roots may be formed ; use air-slaked 
lime containing turpentine. 

Wire Worms. Quick rotation of crops. 

FUNGOUS DISEASES AND REMEDIES. 

Bean Pod Rust. Copper solutions ; sulphur and 
water ; new location. 

Cabbage Club Root. Lime on land — 75 bushels to 
acre ; new location. 

Celery IvEAF Blight. Bordeaux mixture ; irrigation 
of soil to stimulate growth ; new location. 

Cucumber Blight. New location. 

Damping Off. Ventilation ; new soil ; new frames or 
Staging ; lime. 

Lettuce Rot. See Damping off. 

Onion Rust. New location. 

Powdery Mildew. Bordeaux mixture. 

Potato Blight, Bordeaux mixture ; clean seed ; new 
location. 

Potato Rot. Sulphur ; Bordeaux mixture ; clean 
seed ; new location. 

Potato Scab. Sulphur ; new location ; seed treated 
with corrosive sublimate. 

Sweet Potato Black Rot, Sulphur ; copper solu- 
tion ; new location. 

Tomato Blight. Bordeaux mixture. 

Tomato Rot. Bordeaux mixture. 



„l 



CHAPTER X. 

A MODEL TRUCK HOUSE. 



SUDWC 

8frw/D£ 
= 1 1 






Q)STOV£ 



/iA/S£/) PlATFO/i/i 




COi^£fi£D S/Y£/> £0/f 

MA/iX£r WACOMS 



3 oooas 



J.... 



GROUND PLAN OF TEUCK SHED OR VEGETABLE HOUSE. 
(Closely modelled after a structure belonging to Thomas Brooks, Jr., Philadel- 
phia. Size about 36x56. Raised platform under covered shed is open toward 
market wagons, but on the other side there is a board partition, separating 
the two sheds.) 

Comfort, convenience, utility — these are the requisites of 
the truck house or vegetable shed of the market gardener. 
The cut or engraving shows the ground plan of a Philadel- 
phia trucker's place of business. There is a second story to 
the building reached by the stairs in the main room, and 
there is not an inch of lost space anywhere. 

This ground plan is a rough drawing of the vegetable 
house of Thomas Brooks, Jr., in the northern part of the 



38 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

city, near Richmond and Venango streets. The building, 
like the whole place, is planned for convenience. The main 
room is heated in winter by a stove. There is a pump, with 
a large tub or tank for washing vegetables. There are win- 
dows to admit light, tables for bunching, and hooks for the 
garments of the workmen. Two doors open out under 
covered sheds — one shed for the incoming carts or barrows 
bringing vegetables from the garden ; the other, for the 
departing market wagons with their loads of washed, bunched 
and barreled succulence. 

The Brooks garden or truck farm has many broad acres 
devoted to the production of cabbage, beets, lettuce, thyme, 
kohl-rabi, celery and other things. It is laid out on rectan- 
gular lines, in blocks containing from less than one to sev- 
eral acres, and worked to its utmost capacity. 

Heating a Work Room. A small hot water stove 
can be arranged so as to distribute the heat more evenly than 
a stove, and by keeping a banked fire enough heat is gener- 
ated to prevent the shed from getting very cold at times when 
not in use. It is also a benefit for supplying hot water for 
use in washing. The system can be put up for from $20 to 
$30, including the equipments. It can be attached to a tank 
or to the city main, and the hot water drawn the same as 
from a range boiler in a house. The advantage of such a 
system is that the heating pipes can be placed in any part of 
the shed, even a second story, and the heat supplied just 
where wanted, and not confined to a single distributing 
point as with a stove. 



CHAPTER XI. 



MARKETS AND MARKETING. 

A Dreer note-book memorandum made in Rhode Island 
in 1896 is highly significant — and has a moral. The Rhode 
Island growers, it must be remembered, have great markets 
in two directions, aside from their local centres of population. 
The "note," though crude, is self-explanatory. 

"Boston pays better prices; 20 per cent, higher than 
New York. Boston stuif must be fresh and handsome. 
New York will take anything." 

This comment, from the lips of a Yankee farm gardener, 
is not meant to cast a reflection upon the great New York 
markets, but to emphasize the fact that things which are 
"fresh and handsome" will always and everywhere com- 
mand higher prices than goods carelessly marketed. 

It is probably true that the Boston markets are more dis- 
criminating than the New York markets, but the main idea 
is that good vegetables must be presented in good parcels in 
order to command good prices. 

The man who sells poor garden stuff takes the market 
price, or less. The man who puts his products in extra fine 
order can sell them for extra prices — always. 



PART II. 



CHAPTER XII. 



ASPARAGUS CULTURE. 




HOME-MADE ASPARAGUS BUNCHER. 

Philadelphia market gardeners generally prefer a green- 
colored rather than a purple- colored asparagus. They set 
out one-year-old or two-year-old roots in about equal quanti- 
ties, some growers demanding the former and some the latter. 
They say that city stable manure is the best known main 
fertilizer for asparagus. They set the rows four to five feet 
apart, with plants two feet apart in the rows, working the 
furrows a foot deep with the plow, followed by a shovel. 
They bunch the asparagus, ship it in ventilated berry crates, 
and consider it a profitable crop, even at present prices, which 
are somewhat reduced as compared with former quotations. 

Such, in brief, is a summary of the Dreer field notes of 
1896. 

Variety, Age, Distance, Depth. Beginning with 
the comment of an expert grower, that half the battle is to 
start with the right variety of asparagus, it may be said that 
Philadelphia gardeners usually prefer the light-green mam- 
moth strain which is now sold under the name of Eclipse. 

40 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 4I 

The same ' grass " has other trade names, and a number of 
local titles beside, as more than one grower claims the honor 
of introducing it to the general market. 

The Eclipse is, of course, an evolution ; and, as many cul- 
tivators have grown asparagus on practically the same lines 
for long terms of years, it is quite likely that more than one 
person has developed this excellent strain. 

Asparagus does not invariably seed true to name, and 
there will always be some purple shoots in a field of Eclipse, 
or any other green variety ; but the color is now pretty well 
under control. 




PARTS OF ASPAEAGUS BTTNCHER. (See p. 40.) 

As to age of roots for setting out, there is a wide differ- 
ence of opinion among practical growers. The truth is, 
doubtless, with both sides, and may be resolved hito the gen- 
eral advice to plant two-year-old roots in gardens and small 
plantations, and strong one-year-old roots in large plantations, 
where the older roots would be too expensive. A strong one- 
year-old root, under the best management, will nearly equal 
the average two-year-old root in time of reaching maturity ; 
but fresh, well-selected two-year-old roots are best where 
quick results are demanded. 

The distance between the rows, in the practice of the 
Philadelphia market men, is from four to five feet, on the 
average. The plants are set from two to three and one-half 
feet apart in the rows — the latter distance when extra large 
asparagus is wanted. 

The asparagus bed must be on deep, rich, mellow soil ; 
preferably with gravel subsoil. If such a situation cannot 



42 DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

be had the laud should be thoroughly underdrained, in order 
to facilitate the operation of the manure that must be so 
lavishly applied to the soil. • Where the drainage is poor the 
manure is washed off the land, instead of into the land, 
during heavy rains. 

After the ground is in thorough order, with anywhere 
from 25 to 100 tons of rotted horse manure plowed under, 
rows the required distance apart are made with the plow, the 
plow being run both ways in the furrow. A shovel further 
deepens the furrow, at last securing a depth of perhaps a 
foot below the natural surface of the field. 

This distance or depth is variously estimated by truckers, 
some claiming it to be eighteen inches, while others say it 
cannot be more than nine or ten. The sloping sides of deep 
furrows are deceptive in this respect, and it is probably true 
that the plow and shovel method never gets more than a foot 
below the natural surface of the soil. 

Any expert plowman will see how to turn double ridges 
the required distance apart, and to leave "clear up furrows " 
just where the asparagus roots are to be set. 

Some growers put a thin layer of well-rotted manure, 
covered with soil, in the bottom of the trench, for the recep- 
tion of the roots. Others trust wholly to the well-enriched 
soil of the whole bed. 

In some private gardens the laborious practice of digging 
deep trenches with spade and shovel is still followed, but this 
custom is fast disappearing, as it is too expensive. 

In passing it may be said, in reference to the depth of 
asparagus roots under the soil, that shallow planting produces 
earlier but smaller shoots. Deep planting yields later but 
larger shoots. 

Treatment of Young Beds. No crops are advisable 
for a young asparagus bed during its first year, since it is 
good practice to keep the cultivator constantly running. Thie 
deep trenches must be slowly and steadily filled up as the 



' DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 43 

asparagus shoots gain size and strength ; and as the earth 
between the rows must be constantly disturbed in order to fill 
the deep furrows there is but little chance for cropping. 

Sometimes a late crop, like turnips, is put in during the 
latter part of the first year ; and during the second year crops 
of tomatoes, corn, etc., may be grown. A few market 
gardeners crop their asparagus beds permanently, getting 
lettuce, radishes or spinach in the early spring. As a rule, 
however, it is better to look to the asparagus bed for nothing 
except asparagus. 

The second year after setting the roots, often called ' ' the 
third year," is the time for beginning to cut the young 
shoots. Cutting must cease early, say the first of June, in 
order not to exhaust the young plants. Old, well-established 
beds are safely cut for another month. 

Fertilizing. Nobody need fear to put rotted horse 
manure on asparagus beds. It may be used up to any desired 
amount, but as the gross sales of asparagus will not be likely 
to exceed $200 to $250 per acre, under the most favorable 
circumstances, there is an economic limit in manuring which 
must not be exceeded. A fair acre average for the Philadel- 
phia gardeners may be quoted at 15 tons of stable manure 
and 500 or 600 pounds of complete fertilizer, though the 
fertilizer is not always in favor ; with perhaps half a ton of 
salt and half a ton of kainit, or either. Kainit contains more 
than one-fourth its bulk of salt, and a considerable percentage 
of potash ; otherwise it has no value as a manure. It is not 
to be recommended for use with salt, as it takes the place of 
salt and yields potash besides. 

Cutting and Bunching. The illustrations show a 
very common, home-made asparagus buncher in use among 
Philadelphia truckers. It is made of strong inch board, the 
parts being well nailed together. Some growers use a quart 
cup or large tin fruit can for bunching purposes. It is tied 



44 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

with string or raffia ; two strings at the small or tender end 
of the bunch and one string around the butts. The butts are 
afterwards cut off square with a long knife. Wet string is 
often used, as it is softer and more pliable. 

Asparagus is cut from the bed with an ordinary butcher 
knife, or with a knife especially prepared for the purpose. 
The latter implement is for deep cutting, where the under- 
ground portion is wanted. Care must be taken not to injure 
with the knife other shoots under the ground. The size of 
the ordinary bunch may be judged by remembering the size 
of the dry-measure quart cup, which is sometimes used as a 
buncher. 

It is the usual practice to cut during the morning, bunch 
and tie during the afternoon, and send to market the following 
day, the asparagus having been placed in water during the 
night. 

Asparagus is frequently assorted and sold in three sizes, 
the better prices obtained for the finer shoots offsetting the 
labor of the operation. It is often shipped to market in open 
fruit or berry crates. In this condition it suffers somewhat 
from drying, but can be made fresh again with water. In 
tight boxes or packages it is in danger of "heating" on its 
way to the city markets, especially if subjected to delay. 

Some successful growers put their bunched asparagus in 
cold storage for a day or two before shipment ; then ship in 
closed packages. This prevents heating as well as drying. 

Selling. The first home-grown asparagus in the Phila- 
delphia market sometimes commands $i per bunch, or three 
bunches for $2, wholesale. The average wholesale price for 
a really good article during the season of 1896 was about 
"10 bunches for a dollar." At this rate the growers found 
a margin of profit in the business. 

As already stated, the 'gross receipts from an acre of 
asparagus will not exceed $150 to $250 per year. This is 
based on an estimate of 1500 bunches of asparagus to the acre. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 



-15 



Ridging. The ' ' ridging ' ' of asparagus is an important 
cultural feature. It consists in turning furrows with the plow 
on both sides toward the row. In efifect, it puts the roots 
further under ground than before, and results in slower 
growth and larger "grass" — as the gardeners invariably 
term their asparagus shoots. 

It is sometimes the custom to ridge for winter protection, 
working the ground level in the early spring, to encourage 
quick growth. But the great use of the ridging plan is in 
late spring, after the weeds have begun to grow and after the 
asparagus has begun to spindle. The plow buries the weeds 
and checks for a time the appearance of the shoots ; then they 
advance in greater strength than before. The gardeners say 
it is because of the cooler ground thus aiforded them. 

To produce unusually rank, large shoots it is only 
necessary to heap the earth deep about strong asparagus 
crowns, and to continue the operation as the shoots push 
upward. The process may be made successful as long as the 
terminal bud of the growing shoot shows no sign of bursting. 
The shoot finally seems to get impatient, and will go no 
further ; but the gardener has the material for making a 
bunch of asparagus perhaps two feet in length. This is not 
good commercial work, however, except for special purposes. 
Daniel Starkey, of Bustleton, is quoted as having once pro- 
duced a "bunch" of asparagus in this manner, containing 
56 stalks, which weighed 70 pounds. 

Other Points. Beetles are conquered with Paris green, 
with poultry, by hand-picking, or not at all. They are 
annoying, but at Philadelphia are not considered very for- 
midable. Paris green in flour or plaster is often used on the 
yearling plants, but the older plants are usually permitted to 
take care of themselves. 

Crooked asparagus shoots probably result from several 
causes. A hard crust on the soil will, it is believed, some- 



46 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

times turn a shoot sideways. The cut of a knife or the bite 
of an insect may produce an injury resulting in lateral 
growth. Other causes no doubt result in these undesirable 
shoots. 

Asparagus tops ought to be burned in the late fall or 
winter ; unless some good way can be devised for using them 
as litter or manure savers. They are so full of seeds, how- 
ever, that it is doubtful whether it would be economy to 
employ them for litter. 

In New England, in some places at least, asparagus is 
sold by the pound, without bunching. An 1896 quotation 
was 10 cents a pound, which to the grower was quite satis- 
factory. The cost of bunching is considerable — at least a 
cent a bunch. 

For Forcing. For forcing purposes, to be covered 
with sashes in the early spring, as described in Dreer's 
Vegetables Under Glass, the roots must be set near the 
surface of the ground — say only 5 or 6 inches deep. This is 
because early growth is demanded. 

An Old Grower's Experience. Robert Nichols, of 
Bustleton, well known among Philadelphia gardeners, says 
that asparagus never elsewhere yielded for him so largely as 
in seven single rows which he set out eighteen years ago in 
certain clear-up furrows in his garden. With the plow a 
depth of six inches was secured, and with the spade an addi- 
tional depth of ten inches. The plants were slow in making 
their appearance, and the cutting for several years was small ; 
but the subsequent cutting was nearly double in amount the 
yield of any other asparagus on the place. Mr. Nichols says 
there is no danger of getting the roots set too deep. He 
believes in horse manure, but has less faith in artificial fertili- 
zers for asparagus. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



CELERY CULTURE. 



it -**i-J»'' 









^#•#ii'Jl^%r^^ 




A FIELD OF GOLDEN SELF-BLANCHING CELERY. 
J. Milton Berger, Jamaica, Long Island, October 30, 1896. 

In Japan, where dwelling-houses are not heated during 
the winter season, the natives clothe themselves according to 
the temperature. When the mercury stands at 60° a Japanese 
man is comfortable when wearing one komono, or long gar- 
ment. When the temperature falls to 40° he puts on another 
komono, and a third if 20° is reached. 

The Japanese custom suggests the proper plan for pre- 
serving celery in winter storage — the greater the cold the 
greater the protection, with the extra ' komono " thrown off 
if warm weather should occur in midwinter. 

The problem in the changeable American climate is to 
adapt the protection to suit the weather, and large amounts of 
stored celery are lost every winter in this way. Good judg- 
ment and prompt action will in most cases prevent this loss. 



48 dreer's open-air vegetabi^es. 

A IvATE OR Second Crop. Celery is usually grown 
near Philadelphia as a late or second crop, in ground that 
has been devoted to something else early in the season. The 
market gardeners here begin to set out celery in June, and 
continue to plant until August. The ground cannot be too 
rich, and a heavy coat of rotted manure should be spread 
before plowing for celery. If water can be had for irrigating 
purposes it is safe to use a complete fertilizer to the amount 
of one thousand or even two thousand pounds per acre, in 
addition to the manure. But if artificial irrigation is impos- 
sible it is better to use a smaller amount of fertilizer. 

Varieties and Seeding Dates. Of the varieties 
now most used at and near Philadelphia may be mentioned 
Golden Self-blanching, White Plume, Pink Plume, Giant 
Pascal, Perfection Heart well, and Golden Half-dwarf. A 
dozen other kinds, or these kinds under other names, are also 
used. The dwarf or half-dwarf kinds are used almost exclu- 
sively. Beginners cannot do better than to trust the judg- 
ment of an experienced seedsman in the selection of sorts. 

There is, it is true, a choice in the matter, as every soil 
and every market has its own peculiarities, which the grower 
must recognize ; but until a comparative test has been made 
the grower must trust the seedsman. The firm selling the 
seeds will recommend those sorts which have been most 
widely successful. 

Celery seed may be trusted in the open border in April, 
or even in March. It is slow to germinate, and the sooner 
the work is done the better. The plant is naturally hardy, 
with a decided preference for cool weather, and soil moisture 
is essential to its germination. If sown later in the season, 
say in May or June, constant watering will be necessary. 

The seed must be scattered in rows, rather thickly, and 
kept almost on the surface. A good plan after digging and 
raking the soil is to lay down a narrow board or strip of 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 



49 



wood, strike it with a brick, scatter celery seed on the even 
surface thus secured, sift a sixteenth of an inch (or less) of 
the finest loam upon it, and again firm the place with the 
wooden strip by means of a blow with a brick or hammer. 

When the young plants have made their appearance 
they must be kept clear of weeds, occasionally cultivated, and 
watered if necessary. Wheu a growth of six or eight inches 




WINTEE STOKAGE OF CELERY IN PRIVATE GARDEN. 
William Robertson, gardener to John W. Pepper, Jenkintown, Pa., January 6, 1897. 

has been made it is well to begin to cut back the tops, to the 
extent of an inch or two, in order to strengthen the roots. 
The heart of the plant becomes much stronger if thus 
exposed to the sunlight. 

In small operations the celery plants are frequently 
pricked out or transplanted from the seed bed to an interme- 
diate bed before going to the open garden. In large patches 
this intermediate work is avoided on account of the labor 



50 DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

and expense, the same result being secured by extra good 
care of the seed bed and extra heavy manuring of the 
ground in which the crop is grown. 

Setting Out. The wide-awake operator considers a 
garden Hne a time-wasting device when celery is to be set 
out in a hurry. He anticipates a midsummer shower, and 
makes ready beforehand. The ground is manured, plowed, 
harrowed and rolled, and made as fine and smooth as possi- 
ble. A line is then stretched and a wooden marker used for 
making rows. After a straight mark has been secured the 
garden line is no longer necessary, as the marker follows its 
own path, each time locating for itself a new row. When 
the work is complete the patch is wholly covered with parallel 
furrows an inch or two in depth, and three feet (or four) apart. 
A shower of rain does not obliterate these marks, and the celery 
planters follow them very rapidly. 

Dates for Setting. July is usually the month for 
setting out fall or winter celery, the early crops being off the 
land by that time and the ground being available. If the 
soil is in extra good order, and if a water supply can be con- 
trolled, so as to render heavy fertilizing entirely safe, the 
setting out of the celery may be deferred until early August. 
But July is usually the better month. 

The proper distance between rows is three feet for the 
dwarf kinds and three and one-half or four feet for the half- 
dwarf varieties. At these distances celery must either be 
sold directly from the field or lifted and taken elsewhere for 
winter storage. 

If the celery is to remain all winter in the original rows, 
as now quite generally practiced in private gardens, a differ- 
ent method of setting is observed. Double rows are planted 
ten or twelve inches apart, with say twelve-feet intervals 
between. This is to allow for the soil needed for winter 
covering, which is quite a large quantity, as shown in the 
illustrations. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 51 

Still another method of planting celery, which has had 
some attention recently, is in a closely-set bed, each plant 
having say six by eight inches of space. The claim is made 
that in rich ground, with an abundant water supply, a pro- 
digious crop can thus be secured, and that the dense shade 
resulting from rapid growth produces a satisfactory bleaching 
of the stalks. 




BLEACHING CELERY WITH BOAEDS. 
J. Milton Berger, Jamaica, Long Island, October 30, 1896. 

We have seen this method tried, but not yet with very 
good results. 

Celery plants are often set between rows of sweet corn, 
while the corn is still standing, or among cabbages or other 
crops. In the case of corn every row is occupied, while 
between closely -planted cabbages every other row is set 
with celery. The temporary shading by the corn is rather 
beneficial ; though nothing can be an improvement on well- 
prepared open ground, with ^ood cultivation and suflBcient 
moisture. 



52 DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

Irrigation. Wherever ground that is deep and rich 
can be put in good order a crop of celery is reasonably 
certain, especially if irrigation can be commanded. The time 
has arrived in America when intense culture is essential to 
success, and the highest culture is impossible without good 
drainage, heavy fertilizing and a reliable water supply. 

The end and aim of irrigation is to remove the uncer- 
tainties of the weather ; to make it safe for the cultivator to 
stimulate his plants up to the highest limit of their assimila- 
tive capacity. In no other way can profits be counted upon 
in advance. 

There are many meadows in the country adjacent to 
Philadelphia exactly suited to celery growing, and so situ- 
ated that natural brooks could be led to any part of them. 
Such meadows will furnish the best market gardens of the 
future. 

Culture and Bleaching. The horse cultivator has 
the same duty in the celery patch as elsewhere in the truck 
garden, and it pays to keep the soil thoroughly and con- 
stantly stirred. The celery makes such a growth by Septem- 
ber that " handling " is needed, and loose soil must be avail- 
able for this purpose. ' ' Handling ' ' is the process of bring- 
ing the spreading leaves together and packing soil about 
them, to encourage a compact, perpendicular growth. Some- 
times this handling is followed by the turning of a light 
furrow toward the row with a plow ; or a celery hiller, 
with leaf-lifting attachment, is passed along on both sides of 
the rows. These processes will bleach the dwarf sorts, such 
as Golden Self-bleaching and White Plume, and render them 
speedily fit for market. 

Another method of bleaching is by means of boards. 
This system is used with the dwarf as well as with the half- 
dwarf sorts, and produces stalks of ivory whiteness. The 
method of using the boards is'shown in the picture. Stakes 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



53 



hold the lower edges of the boards in place, while the upper 
edges are clamped together with small iron hooks made of 
stiff wire. 

The old way of banking high with earth by means of a 
spade or shovel, to secure autumn celery for the table, is still 
sometimes followed by amateurs and private gardeners, but 
not much by market growers. 




WINTER STORAGE OF CELERY IN PRIVATE GARDEN. 
Thomas Dwyer, gardener to Dr. J. A. DaCosta, Villa Nova, January 4, 1896. 

Storage. The important points about celery are yet 
to be told, for it is in the matter of storage that so many peo- 
ple fail. The main trouble was mentioned at the opening 
of this chapter. The stored celery is either frozen or smoth- 
ered in the trenches ; either permitted to freeze solid or 
allowed to rot from heating or other cause. 

Celery is a very hardy vegetable, and is not in the least 
injured by the heavy frosts which occur before the 15th of 



54 DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

November. The freeze which so often occurs within two or 
three weeks after that date, when the mercury drops below 
20°, should be avoided ; that is, the celery should be pro- 
tected against it. 

But in the case of warm December weather, which is not 
unusual, the celery tops should again be exposed to the air. 
This is a parallel case with the native of Japan and his 
komono. 

All celery that has been lifted from its place of growth 
is more liable to decay than that with roots undisturbed — 
which brings us to the two main systems in local favor for 
winter storage of celery. 

One system is that which is followed by private gar- 
deners and large public institutions, where the necessity of 
reaching the stored celery in bad weather is not imperative. 
In this system the celery is stored just as it grows and where 
it grows. 

The other system, practiced more by market gardeners 
with retail trades, makes provision for getting celery out of 
storage, in any sort of weather, at regular stated intervals. 
Here the celery is lifted, and packed in close quarters in 
trenches, the covering being movable. 

Both ways are shown in the pictures in this article. In 
the double-row case the relative height and thickness of 
celery, earth and leaves are revealed in the illustration. 
Here the celery cannot be ventilated, owing to the way the 
earth is put on. But as it stands on its own undisturbed 
roots, with no spaces about it for the accumulation of foul 
air, there is less need for ventilation than where it is lifted 
and afterwards packed. 

In the case of Max Meyer, while the stored celery is 
wholly under ground, the method of ventilation is easy and 
complete. The tops may be fully exposed to the air on an 
hour's notice. The celery keeps all winter. Mr. Meyer's 
storage box or trench has board sides, and is one and one- 
half feet deep and one foot wide. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 



55 



Waterproof Paper. This substance is now used 
largely by market gardeners for the autumn protection of 
celery. It has both rain-turning and frost-turning ability. 
It is sold in long rolls, and is used but once. It is not expen- 
sive, and is very convenient and effective. 




CELEKY STORAGE BY MARKET GARDENER. 
Max Meyer, West Chester, Pa., December 7, 1896. 
[Note.— The celery tops are imperfectly shown between the two boards. The 
boards, when turned together, cover a sunken box which is 1 foot wide and 
1J4 feet in depth, and is filled with closely packed celery] 

Diseases. Celery is not subject to many diseases or 
enemies. The parsley worm sometimes attacks it, but not to 
a disastrous extent. It is liable to rust or spot if handled 
when wet, which leads growers to do all their work with it 
during dry weather. There is a yellow blighting of the 
lower leaves, sometimes, which is objectionable. For this 
trouble the best remedy is perhaps to be found in irrigation, 
for the blighting is worse in dry weather, and is by some 



56 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

growers thought to be altogether the result of drouth. Rap- 
idly-growing celery is subject to but few ailments, and is 
tender, succulent and sweet. 

Prices. Prices have been low for some years past, 
owing to several causes ; principally the excessive produc- 
tion of certain great celery-growing and celery-shipping cen- 
tres. The transported product, however, is never quite so 
good as the home-grown article, and will never entirely drive 
it out of the market. For retail trade home-raised celery 
will always be an available crop, and its merits will ever 
cause it to be in demand. 

The Old Way. The old trench system of growing 
celery is no longer widely followed. It is slow, laborious 
and expensive, and productive of no better roots or stalks 
than the modern system of surface planting. 

A Planting Incident. On Sunday, the 14th of June, 
1896, there was a fall of rain at Philadelphia. On Monday 
morning, June 15th, John Davis, a market gardener in the 
northern suburbs, started to set out his early celery. His 
patch (an acre, perhaps) had been made ready beforehand. 
Four men were employed in planting, while four boys 
dropped the plants. Two of the men were on their knees ; 
the other two worked by bending at the waist, and literally 
walked along the rows as they set the plants. All the 
planters were expert, but those who bent at the waist (an 
almost impossible attitude) made the greatest speed. The 
four planters were all getting up close to the looo-per-hour 
mark. Wooden dibbers with brass points were used. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



LETTUCE CULTURE. 




SiLVEE Ball. 



Quality in lettuce de- 
pends upon crispness and 
succulence, and these in 
turn depend upon quickness 
and vigor of growth. The 
requisites are good soil, good 
culture and sufficient moist- 
ure. The ground cannot be 
made too rich for lettuce, for 
it is desirable to secure heads 
in a few weeks from the set- 
ting out of the young plants. 

The lettuce belongs among the plants which are grouped 
under the name of The Composites, in Chapter XXIV. of this 
book. It is to-day one of the gardener's best money-makers, 
as it is in demand during the entire year. 

It belongs among the hardiest garden staples, and is 
naturally better suited to the cooler months than to the heat 
of midsummer, though the unceasing demand for it has 
prompted the development of heat-resisting strains. Differ- 
ent sorts are planted at different seasons, but otherwise the 
succession is unbroken. 

In many localities the demand for lettuce is still confined 
to the spring months, but this salad-making vegetable is 
apparently gaining favor everywhere, for it is grown in 
greater abundance each year. 

Two other factors, beside improvement of the home 
product, have helped to increase the consumption of lettuce 
at Philadelphia and New York. One of these factors is the 



58 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

• 

Southern product, which is barreled and sent here in perfect 
order, and the other is the Eastern lettuce, which arrives in 
quite as good shape. 

It seems paradoxical for the South and the East to com- 
pete with each other for the lettuce and cucumber trade of 
Philadelphia and New York, but such a competition now 
exists. The Southern states are doing excellent garden 
work in the open air during the cool months, while the great 
glass-covered gardens of New England send their overflow 
supplies of lettuce and cucumbers to the two large cities of 
the middle Atlantic seaboard. 

But notwithstanding the " foreign " lettuce which thus 
reaches Philadelphia, the market here is yet a good one for 
home producers. The prices are lower than formerly, but 
there is still a profit on a good article. 

Soil Preparation. lyCttuce demands a rich soil, for 
the reason given at the outset of this chapter. It is a com- 
mon practice to sow the seed in a border or small bed, for 
starting the plants, so as to save the time of the open garden. 
The ' ' squares, ' ' or patches of open ground intended for let- 
tuce, are put into the finest and richest condition, and then 
marked out both ways in lines a foot apart. Young, well- 
started plants are set where the lines cross ; or the young 
plants may be set in rows two feet apart, to be worked by 
horse power. Where ground is high in price the former plan 
is preferable, as it yields twice the quantity of lettuce, though 
involving more hand labor. 

Varieties. Among the best winter varieties of lettuce 
(other than the forcing kinds) are the Early White Cabbage 
or Dutch Butter, the Early Dutch Butter Spotted, and Big 
Boston. These are nearly frost-proof, and are used in cold 
frames, on ridges in the open air, and in borders. Others 
are nearly as hardy. If sown about the middle of Septem- 



DREER'S open-air VEGETABI^ES. 



59 



ber, and protected with a little straw, they will (in most 
places) go through the winter safely, and be available for 
transplanting in the earliest spring. Or they may be headed 
in their winter quarters, as the removal of the light coat of 
straw and the use of the hoe will encourage a quick growth. 
There is no dividing line between the winter and sum- 
mer cultivation of lettuce, and the reader is referred to the 
little book recently issued by this house entitled Vege- 
tables Under Glass for a description of cold-weather 
methods. The winter forcing of lettuce is now an industry 
of wide importance, in which much capital is invested. 

The warm-weather varieties of lettuce (some of which 
are used for winter forcing) are numerous. Many newly- 
named old friends are oflfered to the public every year. Some 
of these ' ' novelties ' ' are real horticultural acquisitions, being 
genuine improvements of old types ; others are merely old 
wine in new bottles — and the buyers pay well for the bottles. 
The standard open-air sorts in- 
clude Silver Ball, Black-seeded 
Simpson, Salamander, Dreer's 
Improved Hanson (on the mar- 
ket over twenty years), and Yel- 
low-seeded Butter. Sensation, 
a recent "novelty," is much 
like Salamander ; and Cham- 
pion Spring and Summer is the 
same as Yellow-seeded Butter. 
All are good, reliable types. 

The Cos type of lettuce is 

shown in the engraving. Its 

shape is quite peculiar. 

There are other novel lettuce shapes to be found 

pictured in the catalogues of the seedsmen. Most of 

them have merit. 




The Cos Type of Lettuce. 



6o dreer's open-air vegetables. 

Principai, Sowing Dates. The principal dates for 
sowing lettuce seed at Philadelphia may be set down as 
September 15th, for plants to " winter over " either in cold 
frames or under straw protection ; October 15th, for plants 
to " winter over " in frames, without heat, to give a spring 
succession ; February 15th, in frames, without heat ; and at 
the earliest possible day in the open border, with succes- 
sional out-door sowings, to keep up the supply of young 
plants throughout the spring and early summer months ; 
and, indeed, running into autumn, to cover the whole year. 
The time to sow lettuce seed is, therefore, practically always, 
except when the ground is frozen. 

All gardeners have more or less "glass," as they term 
their sashes collectively, and in most cases a few sashes 
with heat ; or there may be one or more greenhouses. The 
control of heat of course permits the gardener to sow lettuce 
seed at any time during the winter. 

Transplanting. It is always good practice, when 
feasible, to transplant or prick out young lettuce plants, 
removing them from the seed bed, separating them, and giv- 
ing them a chance to increase the root system before setting 
them in permanent quarters. This is not always done, and 
its utility is in all cases a question of expediency, to be deter- 
mined by actual comparative trial. 

In all sowings in warm weather it is regarded as best to 
put the seed where the plant is to remain, as transplanting 
is then difficult. Several seeds are usually dropped at each 
point, and the superfluous plants afterward weeded out. 
This plan is also followed sometimes in the early spring sow- 
ing of lettuce seed in cold frames. 

It requires from three to four weeks, in summer, to get 
young lettuce plants from seed ; and from three to six weeks 
to head them, making a total of six to ten weeks from seed 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 6l 

to maturity. Speed and profits being closely related, it is of 
course desirable to push the lettuce growth up to its maxi- 
mum limit. 

Intense Culture. In order to make the most of his 
highly stimulated ground the gardener frequently divides his 
best land up into what he calls "squares." These sections 
are square only in their angles, as a rule, being usually longer 
than wide. They permit of the best and most careful culture, 
and make the regular ' ' rotation ' ' of even a small piece of 
ground quite feasible. 

Marketing. The preparation of the lettuce plant for 
market involves but little labor. The root must be cut off, 
the lower leaves removed if they are yellow or rusty, the head 
passed through clean water, and then put carefully into a ven- 
tilated box or barrel. About 70 heads of lettuce, on the aver- 
age, fill a barrel. If pressed firmly, without mashing, the 
lettuce will carry in prime condition, and will remain sweet. 
The shipping should involve no delay whatever, as lettuce is 
best when perfectly fresh. 

Prices of lettuce are not high ; about $2 to $3 per hun- 
dred, wholesale, during the spring and summer of 1896. Re- 
tail prices were perhaps double these figures, as the article is 
perishable. 

It should be remembered that during periods of over- 
production, making a glut in the market, prices always fall, 
while the opposite state of affairs makes abnormally high 
quotations. Boston lettuce has been shipped here during 
periods of winter scarcity, and sold as high as $10 per barrel, 
wholesale ; while, on the other hand, lettuce sometimes begs 
for buyers at $1 per barrel. It requires good judgment to 
measure the market in advance. 

Diseases. Out-of-doors lettuce is often troubled with 
aphides or green lice. These insects are easily washed off 



62 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

when the lettuce is cleaned. Mildew sometimes attacks the 
lower leaves, but it is more common in the under-glass crop. 
" Damping oflf" is often serious in cold frames, where the 
soil has been used several times, or where the wood-work is 
old, but is seldom troublesome in the open air. Rapid lettuce 
growth is the best remedy for all diseases, with an occasional 
change of soil. 

Ridge Culture. This system, while altogether an open- 
air operation, is so intimately associated with winter work that 
it received attention in Vegetables Under Glass, lately 
issued. It is a plan for setting September-started plants on 
ridges made with a plow, say in October ; the ridges to be 
twenty inches apart and the plants about ten inches from 
each other. The lettuce takes root before the arrival of 
severe freezing weather, and is covered with straw or salt- 
hay in winter. It makes heads quite early in the spring. 
Sometimes one row of lettuce is set on a ridge and sometimes 
two rows. The White Butter is the kind mostly grown in 
this manner. It is especially hardy. 




PRINCESS PLOW. 



CHAPTER XV. 




ONION CUI.TURE. 

The onion is botanically 
a lily. Its root is a bulb, 
made up of successive layers 
or scales. It is naturally 
hardy. 

The simplest way to 
grow onions is to buy the 
sets in the spring, and plant 
them just under the surface 
of the soil, as soon as the 

:IZETAKER OXIOX. , , , j 

ground can be worked. 

The next advance in onion cultivation is to raise them 
from seed, which is an operation usually requiring two years. 

The latest method is to produce full-sized onions the first 
year, direct from seed, by transplanting. 

The onion may be grown for several successive years on 
the same soil, if fertilized each year, as it shows less need of 
' ' rotation ' ' than most of our garden crops. It delights in 
rich soil, cool weather and high culture. Hot, dry weather 
quickly checks its growth, causing it to ripen. The top dies, 
and for a time the bulb lies dormant ; but if left in the soil it 
is liable to begin a new growth after a rainfall. 

Success in storing onions depends mainly upon ripening 
them thoroughly and then keeping them dry, with the least 
possible atmospheric change. They do best when spread in 
thin layers, in shaded and well ventilated places. They 
must never be handled when frozen ; and it is important not 
to bruise them when moving them from the field or afterward. 



64 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

Types and Varieties. In Farmer's Bulletin No. 39 
(Watts, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture) onions are divided into 
two great groups, American and foreign. 

The American group includes the different kinds of 
Wethersfield, Danvers, Strasburg, Southport, Silver Skin, 
Perennial or Egyptian, Potato or Multiplier, Shallots, etc. 

The foreign group includes the different strains of Ber- 
muda, Rocca, Victoria, Prizetaker, Barletta, Tripoli, Pompeii, 
etc., including of course those sometimes termed Spanish 
onions and Italian onions. 

As a whole the onions of the American group are better 
keepers, though stronger in flavor. The foreign onions are 
milder and sweeter ; and are more generally raised directly 
from the seed the first year. 

Merit in an onion, by present standards, demands a 
globular shape, a compact and firm bulb, with thin skin and 
small neck. It must be of good appearance, mild flavor, pro- 
ductive and a good keeper. 

Of the American group the Perennial onion, the Potato 
or Multiplier onion, and the Shallot onion vary from the 
common type in certain respects. 

Perennial or Tree Onion. The Perennial (often 
called Egyptian or Tree or Top onion) lives more than one 
year, as its name implies. It throws up a stalk and produces 
small bulbs at the summit, instead of flowers and seeds. It 
does this year after year. These terminal bulbs if planted 
will in turn produce large onions. This variety is often used 
for scullions, as it is extremely hardy, and remains green all 
winter. The clusters of bulblets are sometimes broken apart, 
or they may be planted entire. Our note-books have a 
memorandum, made on Eong Island, October 30, 1896, of a 
large patch of scullions consisting wholly of Perennial onions, 
the bulbs having been separated and planted about three 
inches apart, in rows a foot apart. (Any onion planted in 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 65 

the fall to produce early spring shoots is called a scullion, 
and the name is also applied to the young shoots themselves. 
The word is more properly written scallion). The Perennial 
is very strong in its flavor, and is not considered one of the 
best onions. 

Potato Onion. Potato or Multiplier onions increase 
by division of the bulb. A small bulb planted in spring will 
produce a large bulb in a comparatively few weeks. A large 
bulb planted in spring will, by division, produce from six to 
ten small bulbs. This onion is much planted in the South in 
autumn for scullions. It is grown in the North as a summer 
onion, to some extent. Large specimens of it (the yellow 
variety) were noted in Rhode Island in July, 1896. It is 
said to be free from attacks of maggot, but is liable to some 
other troubles. To perpetuate the stock the practice is to 
plant large onions and small bulbs at the same time. 

Shallots. Shallots resemble Potato onions, but throw 
up an occasional seed shoot. The bulb always multiplies, 
even when small, which is not the case with the Potato 
onion. They are extremely popular in the Southern States, 
and can be successfully grown in the North. In the South 
Shallots are planted in August or later ; in the North in the 
spring. They must have room to multiply, and are set ten 
inches apart in rows twelve inches apart. •They are taken 
up in June or July (in the North), and stored in a cool place, 
and treated like onions. The Shallot is not perennial, as the 
original bulb dies and disappears after producing the sur- 
rounding sets. The average size of the Shallot is about equal 
to a walnut. It is oblong in shape. It holds a high place 
in the esteem of good cooks, as it has great flavoring merit. 
Its growth does not require a long season. 

Fertilizers. Chemical analysis of the onion gives the 
best possible clue to a wise system of manuring for the crop. 



66 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

The Connecticut Experiment Station has found that 800 
bushels of onions (56 lbs. to the bushel) take from an acre of 
soil over 60 lbs. of nitrogen, over 20 lbs. of phosphoric acid, 
and over 46 lbs. of potash. 

The best and cheapest (slow) source of nitrogen is 
Crimson clover ; the best quick source is nitrate of soda, of 
which 200 to 400 lbs. per acre should be used, to be applied 
in the spring. 

Wood ashes is recommended for potash ; or 200 to 300 
lbs. per acre of muriate of potash. 

One hundred pounds of ground bone per acre would 
supply the necessary phosphoric acid. Barnyard manure, 
well rotted, is always advisable. Hen manure is in high 
favor with onion growers, especially for use after planting. 

John Repp, of Glassboro, New Jersey, who grows onions 
and onion sets on a large scale, uses a ton of complete fer- 
tilizer per acre, without manure, on a gravelly loam ; and for 
growing onion sets he sows 40 lbs. of seed to the acre. 

Seeding. The seed should be used at the rate of six 
pounds to the acre for growing large onions in the open field. 
It should be put about half an inch below the surface of the 
soil, with a drill, in rows twelve to fourteen inches apart. 
The onions should be permitted to stand three or four inches 
apart in the rows. The cost of the seed is but a small item, 
when compared*to the cost of labor and fertilizers, and none 
but the best seed should be used. 

Transplanting. The Philadelphia market gardeners 
have learned that it pays to transplant onions, as they can in 
this way be grown in perfection from seed in a single year. 
Red Wethersfield, Yellow Danvers, Southport Globe, Prize- 
taker and other sorts are grown in this way. The seed may 
be sown in the open border as soon as the ground can be 
worked in the spring ; or as early as March in a cold frame, 
or still earlier in a hotbed. It requires about six weeks to 
get onions fit for removal, even with some heat. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 67 

Watts in Farmers' Bulletin No. 39 recommends the rows 
under glass to be three inches apart and one inch deep, and 
the seed to be sowed at the rate of i ^ oz. to the sash. The 
tops and roots of the young onions are to be somewhat 
trimmed at transplanting time, and they must have plenty of 
air previous to their removal, in order to harden them. The 
advantages of transplanting are saving of time, increase of 
yield and uniformity of size, resultimg in better profits. 
Onion seed sowed the first of March, and transplanted, will 
produce bulbs three inches in diameter by the first of August, 
under good treatment. 

Culture. The cultivation of growing onions with a 
wheel hoe (or hand hoe) is well understood. The crop will 
usually do well without artificial irrigation, but water should 
be given if needed. Pulling, curing and storing are im- 
portant operations. When the tops begin to die the time has 
come to take the onions out of the soil, dry or ripen them, 
and house them for safe keeping. 

Crops and Markets. John S. Crosby, of Arlington, 
Massachusetts, in 1895 sold 1275 bushels of onions from i 1-6 
acres of laud. He grew them directly from the seed, using 
six lbs. of seed to the acre. The fertilizers were stable 
manure and wood ashes. The price that year, at that place, 
was fifty to sixty cents per bushel in the field. 

Scullions in the Philadelphia market in early spring are 
worth from $1.50 to $2 per 100 bunches, wholesale. They 
retail at from three to five cents a bunch. 

Onions at Philadelphia are often tied on straw, or 
"roped," and sold in that condition. It is a neat way of 
sending them to market, but adds somewhat to their cost to 
the consumer. 



CHAPTER XVI. 




SWEET CORN. 
Sweet corn has a distinct place in every 
family truck patch, and is of the highest 
value as a money, crop with the farm gar- 
dener. The market gardener, whose acres 
are few, cannot always aflford to give it the 
space demanded for its growth. Farmers near 
good markets can always do well with sweet 
corn. 
a Varieties. Mr. I^andreth divides the 
^^ Indian corn group into six classes — Pop, 

Flint, Dent, Soft, Sweet, Pod or Husk. 
The Eakltest ,tm a. i_ • j 

Corn. The sweet or sugar corns may be consid- 

ered under four heads — extra early, early, 
medium and late. These varieties are all suited to the 
latitude and altitude of Philadelphia. In mountainous 
regions, where the summer is shorter, the early or quick- 
maturing sorts must be grown. Corn demands hot weather. 

Seeding. Any good soil, especially sod, will produce 
corn. Compost or fertilizer, either broadcast or in the hill, 
will aid in getting good results. From eight to ten quarts of 
seed is the amount recommended per acre. In smaller plant- 
ings one quart of seed is enough for two hundred hills, allow- 
ing for waste and replanting. 

The small, early corns require sixty days for reaching 
maturity. They grow but about three or four feet in height, 
and the hills may be as close as two and one-half feet by 
eighteen inches. The intermediate varieties should be 
planted in hills about three feet apart each way. The tall, 
late corns, which are nearly as large as the Indian types, 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 69 

should be set in hills four feet apart each way. The late sorts 
require eighty-five to ninety days for reaching maturity. 

May loth is the recognized date for planting Indian corn 
in southeastern Pennsylvania ; and the sweet corns, being 
even less hardy, should be planted later rather than earlier. 
Nevertheless, we find impatient gardeners planting in April 
every year, and often with success. It is worth the risk, 
because failure merely necessitates replanting, while success 
means a place in the high-priced early markets. 

It is customary to plant four or five grains of corn in 
a hill, and to thin out to three stalks. Sweet corn is often 
sowed in rows, three or four feet apart, and the stalks allowed 
to stand six inches apart in the row. The time of planting 
is never before the latter part of April, after which other 
plantings should be made, so as to keep up a regular succes- 
sion. The last planting of the medium sorts should not be 
later than July 4th, though the early kinds may be put in a 
little later, as they will mature before being caught b}' the 
frost. There are seldom any frosts at Philadelphia previous 
to October ist. 

The extra early and second early kinds of corn have 
some real merit, and generally command good market prices ; 
but they are all inferior in sweetness to the later kinds. 

Dreer's First of All and White Cob Cory fairly represent 
the extra early types ; Crosby's Early and Stabler' s Early 
the second early types ; Roslyn Hybrid and Stowell's Ever- 
green the medium or general crop types ; and Country Gen- 
tleman and Mammoth Sugar the late types. 

The sweetest corns of all are the Eittle Gem and the 
Black Mexican. The former is sometimes called Shoe Peg 
or Ne Plus Ultra. The latter, as its name implies, is black ; 
though, if pulled while very young, it is white. Country 
Gentleman is merely an enlarged type of Shoe Peg. These 
especially sweet corns, though of the highest domestic excel- 
lence, do not sell in the open market, as they do not make a 



70 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



good showing. For choice retail trade or home use they are 
unrivalled. They are late, requiring eighty days to mature. 

Planting for a succession. The following plan may 
be suggested as sure to produce an unbroken succession of 
ears for table or market, weather permitting : 



PL A NT- 
May 
May 
May 
May 
May 
May 
May 
May 
June 
June 
June 
July 
July 
July 



1-First of All 
5— First of All 
10-First of All 
10— Crosby's Early 
10- Stabler's Early 



(60 days) 
(60 days) 
(60 days) 
(70 days) 
(70 days) 



to mature 



10— Stowell's Evergreen (SO days) 
20 — Stowell's Evergreen (80 days) 
30— Stowell's Evergreen (80 days) 
10— Stowell's Evergreen (80 days) 
20— Stowell's Evergreen (80 days) 
30— stowell's Evergreen (80 days) 
4— Stowell's Evergreen (80 days) 
10— Crosby's Early (70 days) 

20— Crosl.y's Early (70 days) 



Julyl. 
July 4. 
July 10. 
July 20. 
July 20. 
July 30. 
August 10. 
August 20. 
August 30. 
September 10. 
September 20. 
September 25. 
September '20. 
September 30. 



The only advantage of the second-early sorts in late 
planting is to make use of ground not available by July ist, 
as the Crosby plantings of July loth and 20th mature with 
the Evergreen plantings of June 30th and July 4th, or nearly 
so. It is often difficult to get corn started in the dry weather 
of July. 




WHEELBARROW, FORCE PUMP OR HAND SPRAYER, WATERING POT. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



STRAWBERRY CULTURE. 

The strawberry belongs in every garden, however small, 
and hence finds a place in this little book on vegetables. It 
is everybody's fruit— the best, the most beautiful, the most 
popular that grows in this latitude. May and June are the 
months of the strawberry, but it can also be fruited in the 
fall. The picking season here is from May 25th to July 5th, 
the main crop extending from June ist to June 20th. The 
autumn production of strawberries may perhaps be developed 
as a paying industry hereafter, as some success in that line 
has already been achieved. 

Layer or Potted Plants. It is desirable to set out 
new strawberry beds in the earliest spring, while the weather 
is cool and the soil moist. The strawberry is perfectly hardy, 
and young plants can be obtained from an old bed as soon as 
the frost is out of the ground. The plants thus obtained are 
called " layer plants," as they are the result of runners which 
have taken root naturally. (A layer is usually made by 
bending a shoot or twig down and burying a portion of it in 
the soil, with the extremity exposed to the air. The buried 
portion will quickly strike root. Strawberry plants need no 
assistance, as their layers are self- rooting.) 

Potted strawberry plants are used in midsummer or 
autumn, when the dryer condition of the soil makes trans- 
planting more difficult. I^ayer plants set in April and potted 
plants set in July or August will, both produce fruit the 
following season. For spring the layer plants are best, while 
for midsummer or autumn the potted plants are altogether 
preferable. 



72 DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

Setting and Culture. In setting out a strawberry 
bed the size of the place will determine the distance between 
rows. In large plantations the rows should be four feet apart, 
with plants eighteen inches apart in the rows. In small gar- 
dens the rows should be two feet apart, with plants fifteen 
inches apart in the rows. In the latter case the runners must 
be cut off, and the plants kept in hills ; except that a few 
runners may be left for the purpose of setting out a new bed. 

The four-foot system, with runners allowed to grow, is 
called the matted-row plan ; the other is called the hill S3'S- 
tem. Market gardeners usually practice the matted-row 
system, as the hill system is far more laborious. 

Varieties. Among the varieties most largely grown 
near Philadelphia at this time are Bubach, Brandywine, 
Bederwood, Gandy, Haverland, Parker Earle, Saunders, 
Sharpless and Woolverton. 

Edwin Satterthwaite, Jenkintown, the largest grower 
near Philadelphia, on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware 
river, uses none except perfect-flowering sorts. His favorites 
are Enhance, Gandy, Woolverton and Mt. Vernon. 

B. F. Osier, Pensauken, New Jersey, ranks Saunders 
first ; then Woolverton, Mary, Barton's Eclipse, Eureka, 
Enhance. He cannot grow Gandy — which is Mr. Satter- 
thwaite's most profitable berry. This shows that different 
soils demand different berries. Mr. Osier discards for mar- 
ket purposes any berry whose bearing season does not cover 
three weeks. 

Edward T. Ingram, West Chester, Pa., the originator 
of Brandywine, says his best early berry is Rio ; best 
medium, Marshall ; best medium and late, Brandywine. 

In setting out strawberry beds it must not be forgotten 
that many kinds bear imperfect or pistillate blossoms. 
Among pistillates are some of the heaviest croppers, such as 
Bubach, Haverland and Crescent. Perfect-flowering kinds 
(of the same date of blossoming) must be set near them. 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 73 

Age of Beds. It is not material whether beds be 
allowed to bear one year or two. The common practice of 
market growers is to plow immediately after the first crop, 
and use the ground during the remainder of the season for 
something else. 

Some growers cultivate the alleys immediately after the 
berries are off, and use the same beds a second season, with 
good results. This plan is quite feasible where there are not 
too many weeds. 

Another practice is to run a sharp-toothed implement, 
like a potato cultivator, through the centre of the row. This 
destroys all the old plants, but leaves the young plants on 
both edges. The best strawberries are always where the 
plants have the most sunshine. 

Edwin Satterthwaite has strawberry rows which have 
borne without interruption for a dozen years. The beds are 
absolutely clear of weeds. After picking the strawberries the 
plow is brought into use, and the rows are nearly destroyed, 
but narrow lines of plants are left standing for the production 
of new runners, which give the crop of the succeeding year. 
This plan is adapted only to high culture and skillful man- 
agement. 

Fertilizers. Well-rotted horse manure is the best 
stimulant for a strawberry bed. Crimson clover will just as 
well supply the necessary nitrogen. Wood ashes contains 
the potash demanded by the crop. A small amount of ground 
bone can be advantageously used. Nitrate of soda is often 
employed, in small quantities, as a top-dressing. 

It is not advisable to set out a strawberry bed on sod 
land, on account of white grubs. 

The irrigation of strawberry beds at the critical time in 
May when the fruit is setting is a matter that has had thought 
from every practical grower. A temporary drouth may ruin 
an otherwise successful and profitable crop. John Repp's 
plan, elsewhere de'-cribed, is worthy of consideration. 



74 DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

Winter Protection. Strawberry beds need but little 
winter protection, yet this matter must not be wholly over- 
looked. There is perhaps more need of winter covering on 
sunny slopes than on northern exposures, as the changes of 
temperature are more sudden and disastrous in the former 
situations. A light covering of straw or manure is all that 
is required. The object is not to prevent freezing, for that 
does no harm. Alternate freezing and thawing, on the con- 
trary, heaves the plants out of the ground and works injury 
to the bed. 

Mr. Satterthwaite uses liberal quantities of horse manure 
from the city stables to cover his strawberry beds in winter. 

Marketing. The strawberry is so perishable in its 
nature that the home producer will never be driven out of the 
market by the distant shipper. The fresh article will always 
be in the best demand. 

Mr. Ingram sorts all his berries before sending them to 
market, and commands a large and choice retail patronage. 
The work is done in the shade, immediately after picking, 
and is not expensive. 

Berry-picking costs from one to one and one-half cents 
per box. The sorting costs from one-fourth to one-half 
cent per box. The box itself costs from one-half to one 
cent. The first item is unavoidable. The second item is 
fully warranted by the better price received. The third item 
is low enough to dictate the destruction of the box after using 
it a few days, as an old or soiled box will invariably rob the 
berries of one to three cents per box in their selling price. 

The pleased custom willingly pays for the new, clean box. 



PART III. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



BUTTERFLY BLOSSOMS — PEAS AND BEANS. 

The next decade of American horticulture will assuredly 
see a radical change in the system of manuring the soil. In 
places where stable manure can be obtained easily and 
cheaply this change will be slow, but in gardens of large 
size remote from towns the pulses will be called upon to 
help supply the needed fertilizers. 

Crimson clover is the most available pulse now in use, 
but the vetches will probably come into favor. 

All the pulses have butterfly-shaped blossoms, and are 
thus easily recognized. They take nitrogen from the air, 
and by the decay of their tops and roots yield it to the soil. 
Their most characteristic features are the little lumps on the 
roots, called " bacteroid tubercles" by agricultural chemists. 
No other domestic plants (so far as now known) share this 
wonderful ability. The clovers, the peas and the beans 
possess it in high degree. Vetches are peas in fact. Peas 
and beans are the only common pulses in the vegetable 
garden, and the title of "butterfly blossoms " is given to this 
chapter to direct attention to the fact that they possess 
manure-collecting value as well as crop-yielding value. 

For their successful cultivation peas and beans demand 
only good average soil, though they will respond to and 
reward high culture. 

These crops have a distinct place in every family garden 
and in every farm garden, but on account of the space which 
they demand they are often crowded out of small market 
gardens. Fresh peas and beans are always in brisk demand 
in the summer markets, and are seldom over-produced. 

75 



76 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

PEAS. 
(1 pt. to 100 feet of drill ; 1% bu. to acre.) 

Peas will do well in any good soil. The seed may be 
planted as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring- 
even in March. The smooth sorts should be sown first. 
The wrinkled sorts, which are larger and sweeter, are rather 
less hardy, and should be sown later, say beginning April i. 
Wrinkled peas sometimes rot in the ground during cold, wet 
weather, but the smooth sorts are almost hardy. 

Grouped roughly, the extra early peas are smooth, while 
the medium and late peas are wrinkled. 

Three agricultural groups are recognized, typified in the 
common garden pea (Pisum sativum), the edible-podded pea 
(Pisum macrocarpon), and the field pea (Pisum arvense). 
The garden pea is divided into a hundred or more varieties, 
depending on earliness, size, color and shape of seed and pod, 
and other points. 

In field culture the rows are from two to four feet apart. 
All the medium peas can be grown in single rows two feet 
apart ; and it is excellent practice to grow them thus, and 
turn the vines under for manure immediately after the second 
picking. The tall late varieties must have more room, espe- 
cially if sticks are to be used ; though market gardeners avoid 
sticks or brush, on account of the expense. 

In small gardens peas may be planted in double rows 
eight or ten inches apart, with alleys between for the pickers ; 
though the field plan is quite applicable to the garden, using 
single rows and reducing the distance between rows to 
twenty inches. 

In dropping pea seeds, either by hand or with a drill, 
the distance between seeds should be about one inch, and the 
depth below the surface one inch in cool weather and two 
inches in warm weather ; and soil should be drawn toward 
the roots from both sides during the cultivation, to keep the 
roots cool. 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 77 

The dwarf peas mature in from fifty to sixty-five days 
from date of sowing, the medium sorts in from sixty to 
seventy days, and the tall-growing late sorts in from seventy 
to eighty days. 

The planting season for peas may be said to extend from 
the last of March until the last of June ; then a summer 
interval ; then an August sowing for a late crop, the August 
planting to consist of the quick-maturing varieties. 

Pea picking, if hired, costs from ten to fifteen cents a half 
bushel basket, and the average selling price is somewhere 
about fifteen cents a half peck. Early peas usually retail at 
a higher price. 

To provide for a succession of peas in a family garden 

the following is suggested. The varieties may be changed 

to suit locations or preferences of growers : 

Plant— 

April 1— Eureka Extra Early (60 days), to mature June 1. 
April 10— Eureka Extra Early (60 days), " " June 10. 
April 20-Eureka Extra Early (60 days), " " June 20. 
April 20— Abundance, (70 days), " " June 30 

April 20— Champion of England (80 days), " " July 10. 

The market gardener will of course put in repeated plant- 
ings of Abundance, Advancer, Horsford's, Heroine, or other 
medium pea ; and the private gardener can do the same, if 
desired. 

Martin Geary, gardener to Frederick W. Morris, " Dun- 
dale," Villa Nova, Pa., plants four long rows of peas (375 ft.) 
every week from early spring until July 10. He anticipates 
work by beginning with Eureka peas in the open border, 
during March, protecting the ground " with a little shake of 
straw." As soon as the open garden is fit to work he sows 
Eureka in rows 2^ feet apart. A week later he sows the 
same, and two weeks later again sows Eureka. 

On the latter date (which approximates April 20, as 
above), he sows Abundance, and repeats this twice. With 
the third planting of Abundance he uses Yorkshire Hero, 



78 



DREER S OPFN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



and continues with it until July lo. On the 20th and 27th 
of August he again sows Eureka. This is practically the 
same as above suggested, but with certain variations dictated 
by experience. Mr. Geary is compelled to furnish large 
quantities of peas, in unbroken succession, and works on the 
plan above outlined. 



A Suggestion 

ABOUT 

Good 
Varieties. 



Farly— (50 to 65 days) : Eureka Extra Early, 
Extra Early Pioneer, American 
Wonder, Alaska. 

Medium— (60 to 70 days) : Advancer, Horsford, 
Abundance, Heroine, Yorkshire 
Hero. 

Late— (70 to 80 days) : Champion of England , 
Long Island Mammoth, Everbear- 
ing, Large White Marrowfat. 

Edible Podded— Dwarf White Sugar, Tall White 
Sugar. 



BEANS. 
(1 qt. to 100 feet ot drill ; pole beans, 3 to each pole). 

In treating of beans the subject may be introduced in the 
same manner that the subject of peas is brought to an end — 
with suggestions about varieties. The general culture is 
quite similar, but beans are not quite as hardy as peas. They 
are, however, planted under the same general conditions. 
The blossom shapes are the same in plan, and they are of 
close botanical kin with the peas. The following suggestions 
will serve to introduce the various groups and classes of this 
most important vegetable : 



Dwarf Lima : 
Green-podded bush 



Yellow podded or wax : 



Pole Lima: 

Pole or Running : 

(wax) 

Pole or Running: 

(green pod) 



Dreer's Bush, Burpee's, Henderson's. 

Improved Red Valentine, Extra Early 
Refugee, Early Mohawk, White Val- 
entine. 

Davis Wax, Valentine Wax, Early 
Refugee Wax, Improved Rust-proof 
Golden Wax. 

Dreer's Improved, Early Jersey, Sle- 
bert's Early, King of the Garden. 

Dreer's Golden Cluster, Golden Cham- 
pion. 

Horticultural or Speckled Cranberry, 
White Dutch Case Knife, White 
Runner. 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 79 

The varieties of beans are legion. Of the so-called 
"dwarf" limas there are three distinct types — the fat or 
thick bean, the large flat bean of ordinary shape, and the 
small or sieva bean. Dreer's Bush is of the first, Burpee's of 
the second, and Henderson's of the third type. 

The green-podded and yellow-podded beans, or "snap" 
beans, are very commonly grown in the country adjacent to 
Philadelphia. They mature in from thirty to forty days 
from the time of sowing, and may be used either in the fresh 
state, with the edible pods, or may be ripened and thrashed. 
Q 1*tie true pole limas are still in the highest favor, 

as their habit of growth favors a long, continuous 
crop. It is both troublesome and expensive to pro- 
vide poles, but it is believed that results justify their 
continued use. 

The running pole beans are more or less grown, 
but those just mentioned are to be found in greatest 
quantities in the Philadelphia wholesale and retail 
markets. 

Ivima beans are sold both shelled and unshelled. 
im lement W^^^ unshelled the common retail price is about fif- 
for setting teen cents a half peck. The price is higher in the 

bean poles, ^ r- o 

made of 1- early part of the bearing season, and to hasten the 

in. galvan- -^ ^ . , . 

ized pipe, crop the Seed beans are sometimes started on inverted 
bits of sod, under glass, and the young plants carried into 
the open air about May 20, when danger of frost is over. 
The sod is buried in the hill, at the foot of the pole, and the 
bean roots are not in any way disturbed by the transfer. 

Beans are frequently forced in greenhouses, as mentioned 
in Vegetables Under Glass. 

The bean crop is in favor with market men, as it yields 
a good deal of ready money. The snap-short kinds are ready 
for sale before peas are ripe, and the limas bear through mid- 
summer, when peas do not compete with them. 



t 



8o 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABI^ES. 



lyima beans should never be shelled long before market- 
ing, as the process robs them of their flavor, permitting them 
to become dry. 

The bush varieties may be planted in late summer for 
autumn cropping, but must have moisture at the start to 
make the work profitable. 

All the bush beans are liable to rust or spot, in what we 
term bad weather, or under conditions of weakness of growth. 
The best remedy is good soil, proper cultivation and a removal 
from infected localities. 

Martin Geary, Villa Nova, started King of the Garden 
lima beans on inverted sods under a sash about May lo, 1896. 
He set poles 4 x ^}i feet apart, and put two young bean 
plants at each pole. He picked beans July iSth. The fer- 
tilizing material used was well-rotted cow manure, spread 
broadcast, and also applied (a shovelful) around each pole. 




TYPES OF HOES. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Broccoli, 
Brussels Sprouts, 
Cabbage, 
Cauliflower, 
CoUards, 


THE CRUCIFERS. 

Cress (Peppergrass), 
Horseradish , 
Kohl-rabi, 
Kale (Borecole), 
Mustard, 


Radish, 
Ruta Baga, 
Sea Kale, 
Turnip, 
Watercress. 



s 



The Cruciferse or Mustards all have flowers 
of remarkably similar form. The blossoms are 
cross-shaped. The Latin word cnix means a 
cross ; cruciferse is from crux. In no other 
botanic family is the flower shape more uniform. A turnip 
blossom, for instance, is the same in form as that of cabbage, 
radish, water cress, peppergrass or mustard. There is a 
difference in color, in many instances ; but as a whole the 
cross-shaped flowers are nearly identical in size and style, 
and botanists therefore depend for classification upon the 
seed pods. 

In the case of the crucifers it is possible to lay down 
definite lines, and to call them hardy. They all distinctly 
belong in that botanic class which demands a temperature 
ranging from the freezing point up to say 65°. They will 
live in lower and higher temperatures, but these plants grow 
with greatest strength and vigor in what we term cool 
weather. 

The temperature of 65° is held by some expert gardeners 
to mark the line between the cool-weather plants and the 
tender or sub-tropical plants. The former thrive with 65° as 
a maximum temperature ; preferably not above that point, 
even at midday. The latter thrive with 65° as a minimum 
temperature ; preferably not below that point, even at mid- 
night. As applied to open-air operations this fact favors 
spring and fall planting ; while applied to under-glass 

81 



82 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

methods it has the highest significance. It would be a mis- 
take, for instance, to attempt to grow cauHflowers and 
cucumbers in winter in the same greenhouse. 

cabbage. 

Cabbage is the most important commercial member of 
this group of plants. It is in demand during the entire year, 
and ranks in value next to the potato as a kitchen vegetable. 

Yet while it can be found on the stalls at any time of 
year there are market gardeners who grow only the early or 
small varieties ; while on some large truck farms cabbage is 
grown only in the fall, and none but the large sorts are 
planted. 

Varieties. It is not the purpose of this book to give 
full lists of varieties of vegetables, but only to mention a few 
reliable types in connection with cultural directions. 

The early cabbages have small, compact heads, mostly 
pointed, while the late kinds have large heads, which are 
usually flat. 

Standard early varieties at Philadelphia include Early 
Jersey Wakefield, Etampes and Early Winnigstadt ; second- 
early varieties, Large Jersey Wakefield (Charleston), Im- 
proved Early Summer, Dreer's Early Drumhead ; late 
varieties, Large Late Drumhead, Dreer's Selected Late Flat 
Dutch, Louisville Drumhead. 

These strains are for the most part old and well known ; 
and there seems to be no better way to improve types than 
through the careful selection of seeds from sorts of recognized 
and long-established merit. 

The Savoy cabbages have curled or wrinkled leaves, and 
are much esteemed, as they are regarded as being especially 
sweet. The Savoy type appears in both green and purple 
cabbages ; and the word " Savoy " is also applied to a form of 
spinach having wrinkled leaves ; also to kale. 

Culture. Cabbage seed is frequently sowed in Sep- 
tember, though to a less extent than formerl3\ A note book 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 83 

of 1896 records the fact that a certain Long Island gardener 
was filling an extensive frame with young cabbage plants on 
the 29th of October. The seed had no doubt been sowed 
about September 10 or 15. 

At Philadelphia the Early Jersey Wakefield is in especial 
favor for this purpose ; though the Large Jersey Wakefield is 
also used. The latter is only about a week later in reaching 
maturity. 

Thomas Brooks, Jr., Richmond street, Philadelphia, an 
extensive market gardener, with 1500 sashes, sows Large 
Wakefield cabbage seed broadcast September 10 or 12, and 
transplants to boxes (frames) in November, when the plants 
are five inches high. They are freely aired during the winter, 
and set in the open ground in March, in rows twenty-seven 
inches apart, and the plants sixteen or eighteen inches apart 
in the rows. The cabbage is ready for market about the 8th 
or loth of June. It requires thirty-five to forty heads to fill 
a barrel. 

For second-early cabbage Mr. Brooks sows seed in spring, 
as these sorts when wintered over show a decided disposition 
to "shoot," or go to seed. The seed is sown in February, 
without heat, and the young plants are ready for the open 
ground in April. Mr. Brooks thinks an autumn-sown 
cabbage makes a harder head ; but it is too liable to go to 
seed. The second-early cabbages are set in rows twenty- 
seven inches apart, with eighteen to twenty inches between 
the plants. 

Mr. Brooks grows no late cabbage except Savoy, the 
seed of which is sown May 15 to 20, and the plants set in the 
open field in July. Late cabbage demands more room — say 
rows three feet apart, and the plants two feet apart in the rows. 

The date quoted by Mr, Brooks (May 15 to 20) is the 
common date for sowing seed of late cabbage ; though the 
work can be done a full month later if especial care be given 
to the young plants. 



84 dreer's open-air vegetabi^es. 

Fertilizing. Cabbage is a rank feeder and demands 
heavy manuring and high culture, Mr. Brooks uses in his 
gardens large quantities of city manure, night soil, cow 
manure, pig manure, and street dirt, either separately or 
composted ; and often 500 lbs. of complete fertilizer per acre 
in addition to natural manures. He says that well-rotted 
stable manure gives the best results with cabbage in dry 
seasons ; that night soil, while more stimulating, is apt to 
cause the crop to "burn " during periods of drouth. 

The cabbage crop is a profitable one if the grower is 
near enough to watch the market, but the distant shipper is 
liable to have his consignment thrown upon an over-stocked 
market, with consequent low prices. Wholesale prices vary 
all the way from $6 down to ;^i per 100 heads, the latter quo- 
tation of course tending to shut off the supply. 

Storing. Cabbages for seed purposes are stored with 
their roots down and heads up during the winter season. For 
food or market purposes the heads are placed downward and 
the roots upward. In both cases the cabbages are completely 
covered with soil, and some provision is made for drainage — 
at least to see that no water stands on the surface of the 
ground where the cabbages are buried. Sometimes a wedge- 
shaped mound is made above the upturned cabbages ; or the 
heads may be laid in a long row, six or eight abreast, roots 
uppermost, and merely protected by a flat blanket of soil. 

Cabbage heads, with or without the roots, may be made 
into a compact conical heap or ridge and covered with straw, 
and permitted to freeze solid. They will endure the cold ; 
but the}'^ must not be subjected to sudden thawing, or they 
will rot. 

Diseases and Enemies. For remedies for flea beetle, 
cabbage worm, club root, maggot, etc., see elsewhere, as 
indicated by the index. The best remedy for most of the 



DREER'S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 85 

ailments of the cabbage is new soil. A healthy cabbage 
plant in fresh soil is almost certain to produce a head, despite 
all enemies, provided the culture is good. 

Spring Seeding. It is entirely feasible to start the 
earliest sorts of cabbage in hotbeds in spring, and to produce 
heads almost or quite as early as with wintered plants. A 
good hotbed made ready in early February, and seeded on 
the 15th, will yield plants fit for transplanting in March and 
for the open ground early in April. If these plants are 
properly aired and hardened they will make quick growth in 
the open ground, and will head in June. 

Other Cabbages. The "cabbages" may be said to 
include Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Collards, 
Kohl-rabi, Kale or Borecole, and Sea Kale. All demand 
rich soil and high culture. 

cauliflower and broccoli. 

These two vegetables are nearly identical ; and when 
young both closely resemble cabbage plants of the same age. 
Broccoli is largely grown in England, but Cauliflower is pre- 
ferred in America, and is more largely grown here. The 
plants have rather different seed-producing abilities, as shown 
in the fact that Broccoli seed can be bought for 50 cents per 
ounce, while Cauliflower seed costs from that figure up to $5 
per ounce. Broccoli can be grown successfully in some locali- 
ties where Cauliflower does not seem to thrive. 

On IvOng Island. The frontispiece is from a photo- 
graph taken with a Dreer camera on the eastern end of Long 
Island, on the 28th of October, 1896. The climate there, in 
the autumn especially, is cool and moist, and the soil is per- 
fectly adapted to Cauliflower growing. The vegetable has 
become a staple crop of the neighborhood, as may be inferred 
from the fact that 4000 barrels per day have been shipped 
from a limited area of country adjacent to Mattituck. In 



»b DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

addition to these heavy shipments by rail enormous quanti- 
ties of Cauliflower go to the local pickle factories, which paid 
i}{ cents per pound for "flowers" in the fall of 1896. Of 
course when New York prices are good the farmers do not 
have to carry their produce to the factories. The average 
Cauliflower weighs perhaps 6 lbs., though specimens of 8 or 
10 lbs. are not rare, and a 13-lb. specimen is on record at 
Mattituck. 

The heads shown in the engraving were taken from the 
wagon that appears in the picture. The topmost head is 
Snowball ; the others are Dwarf Erfurt, Cauliflowers are 
not grown early in the season on the east end of Long Island, 
which is nearly one hundred miles from New York ; but the 
autumn crop is enormous, and the heads are hauled along the 
roads in hay wagons in quantities. The Erfurt types have 
driven the large Algiers types almost wholly out of favor in 
that neighborhood. 

Cauliflower seed is sown at Mattituck from the loth of 
May to the 15th of June, It requires about six weeks to get 
the plants ready for the field. Half a ton of fish scrap, half 
a ton of complete fertilizer, and 500 lbs. of kainit constitute 
the top-dressing for an acre of land. The kainit tends to dis- 
courage the cut worms, and with the fish scrap is broad- 
casted. The fertilizer is used in the rows. The plants are 
set about three feet apart each way, and the yield per acre is 
expected to be from four to five tons. Cutting begins about 
September i and continues until December i. Freezing 
weather does no damage until the mercury gets below 20°, 
After December i the Cauliflowers are not safe in the fields. 

In Pennsylvania. At and near Philadelphia this 
vegetable is grown in three ways : As a winter crop, under 
glass ; as a spring crop, with plants started on heat ; and as 
an autumn crop, in the way followed by the Eong Island 
growers. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 



87 



The method of forcing- Cauliflower is described in Vege- 
tables Under Glass, a companion vohnne to the present 
handbook. The lyong Island autumn method is successful 
in Pennsylvania, provided the soil is rich and provision made 
for a water supply — for Cauliflower is impatient of any check 
during its period of growth. 

For early Cauliflower the seed may be sown February 15, 
in a hotbed, as recommended for cabbage. The best types 
are Snow Storm, Dwarf Erfurt and Snowball. The young 
plants must be transplanted into cool frames, well aired every 
day, and set in the open ground in April. If well started, 
set in good soil, and thoroughly cultivated they will make a 
quick growth, and will head in June. 

It is good practice, both under glass and in the open air, 
to use a wooden pin or string to hold the leaves together over 
the young head, to preserve its ivory whiteness. 

The Long Island growers are compelled to remove every 
vestige of leaf when they carry their Cauliflowers to the 
pickle factories ; but for .shipment to market the leaves are 
cut off even, and a piece of white paper is spread so as to 
prevent the "flower" from injury by rubbing. The Cauli- 
flowers thus prepared are carefully packed in ventilated 
barrels for shipment. Good Cauliflower is always in demand 
in the Philadelphia markets, and 
usually commands fair prices, 
both winter and summer. 

Broccoli. Broccoli is a 
variety of Cauliflower, as already 
mentioned. Its general cultural 
requirements are the same as of 
Cauliflower, but it is more hardy. 
John Gay nor, gardener to Mrs. 
William H. Kemble, Glenside, 
Pa., recommends setting young 
Broccoli plants in firm ground, 




88 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



manured the previous season ; ground hoed and raked, but 
not dug for the Broccoli. The object is to discourage rank 
growth at first, and to produce dwarf, stocky plants. Broc- 
coli can be kept over winter under a thatch of corn stalks. 
Mr. Gaynor prefers the White Cape variety. Light ground 
must be avoided. The seed is sown the same time as winter 
cabbage, say May lo to 20. 

BRUSSELS SPROUTS. 

This vegetable is a cabbage in 
fact, but produces many heads in- 
stead of only one. In the axil of 
each stem leaf a little "head" the 
size of a walnut makes its appear- 
ance, and these heads or ' ' sprouts ' ' 
are of excellent flavor. They are 
sold by measure in the autumn and 
winter markets. 

John Gaynor, heretofore quoted, 
sows seeds of Brussels Sprouts in 
April, in the open air, in rows where 
the plants are to remain. They may 
be transplanted when small, while 
in the rough or second leaf; but 
transplanting tends to make them 
with stems that are too long. The 
feet apart and the plants 18 inches 
apart in the rows, in deep, mellow ground highly manured 
the previous year, but not freshly manured nor plowed just 
prior to planting the "sprouts." Top growth is to be dis- 
couraged. A stocky, well-set plant is desirable ; a plant not 
over 2 or 2>^ feet in height. If set in soft ground and treated 
like cabbage the stem growth is excessive. Firm or even 
hard ground is preferable, if deep and in good heart. The 
plants may be hoed after setting. 




BRUSSELS SPROUTS 

too "leggy ;" that is, 
rows should be 2] 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



89 



Mr. Gaynor also sows the seed of Brussels Sprouts 
(Select Matchless) as late as the end of June or in early July, 
after peas, without plowing the ground. Light, sandy soils 
are to be avoided. " Sprouts " can be safely wintered under 
a good protection of corn stalks, made into a thatch. 

For cooking Brussels sprouts Mr. Gaynor recommends 
that they be gathered in the early forenoon, the outside leaves 
removed, and the sprouts soaked in salt water for several 
hours, and then boiled. No strong odor is given off. This 
is in reality among the best and most delicious of vegetables. 




COLLARDS. 

The Collard is a non-head- 
ing variety of cabbage grown 
mostly in the Southern states. 
Some Collards grow to a height 
of five feet. The plants are often 
called ' ' cabbage greens. ' ' When 
grown in the North "Collards" 
are practically the same as early 
cabbages grown in close rows (a 
foot apart) and cut for use when 
six inches to a foot high. The 
Creole or Southern Collard is 

quite extensively grown in the South, where the climate is 

too warm for the true cabbages. 

CRESS (PEPPERGRASS) AND WATER CRESS. 

The Cresses are much used for salad-making. They are 
especially relished in spring time, on account of their fresh, 
pungent taste. Peppergrass and Upland Cress are less used 
in America than Water Cress. The latter is in daily demand, 
in large amounts, all through the year. In the large Eastern 
cities Water Cress is an essential relish in every restaurant. 

Extra Curled Cress or Peppergrass is the best sort for 



A COLLARD. 



90 



DREKR S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



dry soils. It must be sowed thickly in spring, in shallow 
rows a foot apart. Repeated sowings are necessary, as it 
soon runs to seed. 

Upland Cress is a per- 
ennial plant grown in the 
open ground and treated 
like spinach. It will crop 
for at least two years. In 
flavor it is much like Water 
Cress, which it resembles. 
Water Cress is easily 
'grown in any running brook 
or spring head. It requires 
cEBss OR PEPPERGKAss. shallow watcr and a sandy 

bottom. It can be grown in the soil of the garden or in the 
bed of a forcing house. See Vegetables Under Glass. 
It is grown from seeds (Erfurt variety), or from stem or root 
cuttings. It is used in prodigious quantities in the large 
cities. 




horseradish. 
Horseradish is grown in large quantities by the Phila- 
delphia market gardeners. They set the young roots or sets 
in rows in the open garden or field, and grow it by the acre, 
in rotation with other crops. The sets are made from the 
small side shoots of the previous year, and are the size of a 
lead pencil, and about eight or ten inches long. In making 
the sets the lower end should be cut with a bevel, in order 
that all the roots may be planted right side up. The length 
of the set determines the length of the marketable root. If 
sets are planted between rows of early cabbage they can have 
the exclusive use of the land after the cabbage is marketed, 
and will be ready for market in the fall or following spring. 
Good land and high culture are advisable. The roots must 
be taken out of the land as thoroughly as possible, as remain- 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 91 

ing portions will grow. Horseradish retails in winter at 
from three to ten cents per root. The root is made ready for 
market by carefully washing it and trimming off the leaves 
and all small or feeding roots. 

KOHL-RABI. 

Kohl-rabi is turnip-rooted cabbage— just as celeriac is 
turnip-rooted celery. We also have turnip-rooted parsley 
and turnip-rooted chervil. This peculiar thickening of the 
stem is the result of selection and long cultivation. 

This vegetable is grown to a con- 
siderable extent at Philadelphia, both in 
the spring and fall. The seed is some 
times sown in frames in February, with- 
out heat, and the plants set out in April, 
in rows a foot apart and ten inches apart 
in the rows. It is rather difficult to trans- 
plant, except in cool weather. The seed 
may be sown in the open ground in June, 
and the plants thinned to the distances 
already mentioned. The Kohl-rabi will 
KOHL-RABI, OR TUKNiP- suffcr if thc soil is light and sandy, but 
ROOTED CABBAGE. |jj j.[f.^ ^q^u^ j (■ ^j^ j^^kc a crop in 

autumn. It is tied up in bunches, with three or more plants 
to the bunch, for marketing. Earliest Erfurt is white ; 
Early Purple Vienna a bluish-purple variety. 

KALE OR BORECOLE. 

Kale is grown in enormous quantities near the large 
Northern cities, and is always to be seen in the winter mar- 
kets. It is merely a species of cabbage which does not head. 
It is ornamental in appearance, as the leaves are curled and 
wrinkled and often grow in a graceful manner. It is not 
customary to look for grace and beauty in a cabbage patch, 
but a luxuriant field of frost-covered kale in November bears 




92 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



a close resemblance to a mass of ostrich plumes, and the kale 
leaf is as handsome as the ostrich feather. 

Kale resembles the other cabbages in its two main colors, 
being both green and purple ; and the patches of this vege- 
table in the market gardens adjacent to the large cities add 
brilliance to the autumn landscape. Some strains are per- 
fectly hardy, and remain out all winter, quite unprotected. 

For autumn crop- 
ping the seed should be 
sown in May or June, 
the same as late cab- 
bage ; for spring crop- 
ping the seed should be 
sowed in September, 
Imperial Ivong Standing 
KALE. is a reliable green type, 

of vigorous growth. Dwarf Green Curled German is another 
good kind. The list of varieties is a long one, including sev- 
eral which are locally and incorrectly called ' ' sprouts. ' ' Kale 
has grown widely in favor, possibly aided by Peter Hender- 
son's statement, made years ago, that of all the cabbage tribe 
it is "the most tender and delicate." It is grown in private 
gardens as well as in market gardens at Philadelphia. 




-^^C-> 




Mustard is used 
as a salad. The leaves 
are cut and chopped 
up with Cress, It can 
be had all through the 
year, if desired. Sow 
in rows six inches or 
a foot apart, the seeds 
being scattered quite 
thickly- in the row. 
Repeat the sowings 



dreer's open-air vegetabi.es. 93 

to make a succession. If wanted in winter protect with 
sashes or sow seed in a hotbed. If the seed is wanted sow in 
April, in rows a foot apart, with three inches from plant to 
plant. White London is a favorite variety. 

RADISH. 

The Radish is perhaps grown with greatest profit under 
glass, during the winter season, and large greenhouses are 
wholly devoted to its production. Still, it is also grown in 
enormous quantities in the spring months, and to some extent 
also in the autumn. To be tender and succulent the Radish 
must be grown quickly ; and quick growth depends upon 
high manure, sufficient moisture, cool weather and good cul- 
ture. It seems odd to class the Radish with the cabbage, 
but it has a close botanical relationship thereto, as shown by 
its flowers and seed pods. 

Radishes may be grown alone or in alternate rows with 
beets, lettuce, onions or other crop. They mature in five or 
six weeks from the seed ; that is, they are then large enough 
for market, and should not be allowed to remain longer in 
the ground, for they gain nothing in quality even though 
increasing somewhat in size. If the radishes are pulled at 
the proper time the ground is made ready for a new crop, or 
for the development of the crop occupying the alternate rows. 

In frames radishes should be planted six inches apart ; 
in the open air nine inches apart. Or they may be sowed 
between rows of beets, onions or lettuce set a foot apart, pro- 
vided the small-top radishes be employed. For radishes in 
frames or greenhouses see Vegetabi.es Under Glass. 

The Early Scarlet Turnip is a standard sort for open-air 
work at Philadelphia. Half-long Deep Scarlet is a good 
intermediate radish for the open garden. Philadelphia White 
Box (under several names) is one of the most satisfactory and 
profitable white turnip sorts. 

For summer radishes there are several kinds, including 



94 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

red, white and yellow. Beckerts' Chartier, L^arge Summer 
White and I^arge Yellow Summer are representatives of the 
class. 

The winter radishes, which should be sown in July and 
August, make a vigorous autumn growth. They should be 
stored in sand when freezing weather comes, and placed in 
water (to freshen them) when wanted for use. Black Spanish, 
White Spanish and Scarlet China are types of winter radishes. 

Radishes form one of the market gardener's quickest and 
most available money crops, and should be furnished when- 
ever demanded, as their production is not difficult. 

For radish maggot, which is a very serious injury to the 
root, new soil is the best known remedy. Early spring 
radishes will not be troubled much with insect enemies. 
Soot, wood ashes or air-slaked lime must be used with sum- 
mer sowings, to protect the young leaves. Copious watering 
in summer, to stimulate rapid growth, is desirable. 

RUTA BAGAS AND TURNIPS. 

The Ruta Baga is one of the forms of Turnip ; and the 
Turnip varieties are legion. As garden vegetables Turnips 
may be sown in the earliest spring, in rows a foot apart, with 
the plants thinned out to six or eight inches apart in the rows. 

The main plantings of Turnip, however, will be in July 
and August, for a winter crop ; as Turnips are in greatest 
demand in autumn. They are suited to the table and also to 
stock-feeding purposes. 

The Red or Purple Top and the Early White Flat Dutch 
are standard sorts in this vicinity ; though many varieties are 
grown. Snowball is a sweet, white novelty. 

Of Ruta Bagas the Improved Purple Top and American 
Purple Top are widely used. 

For field culture, though broadcasting is very common, 
the best results are obtained by sowing in drills i8 inches 
apart, and cultivating. This method permits the plants 
to be thinned out, and insures a larger yield of better roots. 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



95 



Turnips and Ruta Bagas may be wintered in root cellars, 
or in conical or wedge-shaped heaps in the open field. The 
heaps are covered with a few inches of straw, and then with 
from six inches to a foot of soil, with a ventilator made of a 
piece of tile at the top. Provision is made for the removal of 
surface water. The roots freeze in these heaps, but will keep 
in good order until spring. 

Retail market men can do quite well with a few Turnips 
and Ruta Bagas in the fall and winter ; and live stock finds a 
good food in these roots. 



SEA KALE. 

Sea Kale is a perennial ; a member 
of the cabbage family. It is grown for 
the blanched shoots which come up the 
second year, and in after years, and 
fZ which are cooked like asparagus. The 
seeds are sown in spring, and the plants 
set out like cabbage. The first year the 
growth is slender. The second year the 
shoots are blanched by heaping up earth 
around the plant ; or a barrel may be 
inverted above the plant, and sur- 
rounded with fresh manure, to force 
the shoots. 

John Ward, gardener to Mrs. John 
Bohlen, Chestnut Hill, near Philadel- 
phia, sows Sea Kale where it is to per- 
manently remain, on account of the 
trouble of transplanting it. It will last 
SEA KALE. for years, if well established. Mr. Ward 

takes up three-year-old roots, and "forces" them, just as 
rhubarb is forced, under greenhouse benches. To blanch the 
shoots in the open air he uses a barrel, as above recom- 
mended. The shoots must be made to grow in a dark place, 
in order to bleach them properly. 





CHAPTER XX. 




THE NIGHTSHADE GROUP. 

There is a striking resemblance between the 
f^^ blossoms of the potato, the tomato, the egg pla^tit 
and the pepper. They belong near together, 
botanically. They are all "nightshades." They are nat- 
urally tender, the potato being the most hardy one of the 
class. 

THE POTATO. 

The Potato is everybody's vegetable. It can be grown 
from seed, but the method requires several years, and the 
common way is by division of the tubers. The operation 
of potato cutting and planting is known to everybody who 
works the soil, yet to this day there are wide differences of 
opinion concerning details. 

The common practice is to cut so as to leave one or two 
"eyes" in a piece, and plant in rows three feet apart, with 
the "seed" a foot apart in the rows. In good soil, well fer- 
tilized and well cultivated, a yield of 200 bushels per acre can 
be secured. The record has been pushed as high as 700 
bushels per acre, but not on a commercial scale. The average 
yield is not above 200 bushels. 

Some growers cut off and destroy the numerous " eyes " 
at the blossom end of the potato, and then cut the remainder 
into from two to six pieces, each piece having one or two 
strong "eyes." A widely advertised secret process, a few 
years ago (for which the buyer paid a dollar), consisted in 
cutting out and destroying all the " eyes " of a potato except 
one, the claim being made that this one shoot or sprout 
would get all the strength of the tuber, and would produce 
early and marvelous results. The method has not been 
much practised. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 97 

Clean seed potatoes, free from rot and scab, are needed 
for success. The plan of cutting is a secondary matter. The 
essentials are deep culture and good manuring. The market 
is often overstocked with potatoes, but potato growing will 
never cease to yield profits to those cultivators who grow the 
best tubers at the smallest cost. 

It is generally admitted that any stock or strain of plant 
that is grown from cuttings, runners, or division of tubers or 
roots will eventually beco;me weak, and that an occasional 
return to the seed is necessary. This is quite true with 
potatoes, and hence new varieties are constantly produced to 
supply the places of those which have lost a portion of their 
original vigor. It is seldom, however, that a new variety 
has sufficiently strong merit to attract the attention of the 
whole country. 

The Blue Mercer potato, in high favor half a century 
ago, has not yet been forgotten by our older farmers ; and it 
is surprising to note that this original stock, in a pure state, 
is still grown on a farm in Bucks county, Pennsylvania. The 
grower is Samuel Walker, Johnsville, and the pedigree of the 
potato extends backward in that neighborhood for fifty years. 
The fact is cited to show the lasting qualities of a really 
strong type. 

Present-day favorites include Early Rose (on the market 
a quarter of a century). Standard, Early Ohio, Early Puritan, 
Beauty of Hebron, Burbank, Freeman, State of Maine, White 
Star, the Carman seedlings, and many others. 

The destruction of potato ' ' bugs ' ' or beetles is easily 
accomplished by means of Paris green mixed with plaster or 
in water. The far more serious troubles, blight and rot, are 
not so easily mastered, but are now under control to a great 
extent. 

Scab and Rot. The New Jersey Experiment Station 
has demonstrated that the substance known as flowers of 
sulphur, costing only one or two cents a pound, is the best 



98 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

known preventive of scab and soil rot in both white and 
sweet potatoes. The wide observations and comparative 
tests made by Prof. Byron D. Halsted put sulphur at the 
head of the list, both in efficacy and economy. Sulphate of 
copper is effective, and so is corrosive sublimate. Stable 
manure increases both scab and rot. Lime increases scab 
and diminishes rot. Kainit, on the other hand, decreases 
scab but increases rot. Sulphur, in the form of " flowers of 
sulphur," scattered in the open row at the rate of 300 lbs. per 
acre, gives the best results. Sulphur in the New Jersey trials 
reduced scab and rot down to about i per cent. , practically 
curing both evils. 

EGG PLANT. 

Egg Plants are best when started late, for they demand 
a high temperature for their growth and development. The 
seed is often sown in hotbeds in March, but it is better to 
defer the sowing until April. If sown in the open border 
the seed must not be trusted to the soil much before May 
20th, when danger from frost is at an end. 

Grown in good soil, and protected against potato beetles, 
the Egg Plant is ready to do its best work during the hottest 
months of midsummer, but demands a full supply of water to 
carry on its growth to best advantage. 

The New England growers irrigate Egg Plants in the 
open field, and this is no doubt the most effectual way of 
securing a crop, for the occurrence of a drouth at the time 
the fruit is undergoing rapid development results in a dis- 
astrous check ; and this probably accounts for the fact that 
the half-grown fruit is often attacked by a blight, causing it 
to drop from the stem. 

Egg Plants should be grown quickly, and without any 
check or interruption. The fruit usually sells well in the 
markets, though there was an over-production in 1896, with 
consequent low prices. The fruit when sliced and properly 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 99 

fried is highly nutritious and wholesome, and has a fine 
flavor. I^ike all vegetables, it is best vi'hen fresh. New York 
Improved Large Purple is a good variety. 

The planting distance for Egg Plants may be quoted as 
three feet each way. This allows for cultivation. 

Private gardeners sow the seed as early as March or 
even February, and pot the young plants, changing the pots 
as fast as the roots demand it. Time is thus gained, as the 
plants are large and stocky by the latter part of May. 

PEPPERS. 

The Peppers commonly grown are the large so-called 
sweet sorts and the little hot sorts. The former are both red 
and yellow ; the latter mostly red. The former are much used 
for flavoring soups and meats and for pickling ; the latter for 
sauces. 

The sweet varieties include Large Bell or Bull Nose, 
Ruby King and Large Sweet Spanish. Golden Dawn is 
yellow. Long Red Cayenne is hot, as also are Small Chili, 
Red Japan Cluster and Red Cherry. 

Peppers demand warm weather, but are rather less deli- 
cate than Egg Plants, and are easily grown. They may be 
set closer than Egg Plants — say in rows three feet apart, and 
the plants two feet apart in the rows. 

The time of sowing the seed is similar to that of Tomato 
— say in March under glass or in May in the open ground. 
The smaller varieties are sold in great quantities in bunches 
of pot herbs in the city markets. 

Private gardeners with glass frequently start Peppers in 
pots, using first the three-inch size and then the five-inch 
size, and having large plants ready for the open ground in 
May. 

THE TOMATO. 

A well- prepared hotbed made ready for the reception of 
Tomato seeds by the 15th of March will yield large, well- 



lOO DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

grown plants in time for open-ground operations in May. In 
four or five weeks from date of seeding it will be necessary 
to transplant into more roomy and preferably cooler quarters, 
in order that the young plants may be made strong and 
stocky by the sun and air. If transferred from hotbeds to 
cold frames about the middle of April, and given a little 
protection besides the glass when the nights are especially 
cool, the sashes may be removed early in May, to be replaced 
only in case of frost, and the plants will be ready for the open 
ground by May 20. Such plants will produce fruit sometimes 
in July and always in August. Four feet apart each way in 
the open ground is a good planting distance. Tomato seed 
sown in the open ground in May will give plants that will 
yield fruit in September. 

The Tomato crop belongs 
to the farm garden rather than 
to the market garden, on ac- 
count of the area of ground 
occupied. The New Jersey 
truckers plant large fields with 
this vegetable, and supply the 
Philadelphia markets to a 
great extent. The Tomato of 
THE STONE TOMATO. coursc has a place in every 

family garden ; and private gardeners frequently start the 
plants in pots, under glass, and have them ready to bear 
fruit in the open air in June. 

The matter of stakes or trellises is purely one of conveni- 
ence. In a ten-acre patch in New Jersey it would be wholly 
out of the question to use trellises, while in every small 
garden the trellis, stake or frame should be employed. In 
under-glass work the vines are always supported, and the 
extra work is warranted in all limited areas by the finer and 
more perfect fruit thus secured. 




DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. lOI 

Varieties. The early Tomatoes are represented in the 
Atlantic Prize and Dwarf Champion — the latter being a dis- 
tinct type. The main crop Tomatoes are represented in the 
Stone, Early Michigan, Acme, Selected Trophy, etc. The 
Pink Mikado or Turner's Hybrid is a late Tomato of rank 
growth but great excellence. The leading Tomatoes for 
forcing under glass are Lorillard and Mayflower. There are 
also on the market several large yellow types and a great 
number of smaller forms, varying in shape from globular to 
plum and pear, and in color from red to yellow. The latter 
are used mainly for pickling. They are highly ornamental 
but not commercially important. 

Blight. The Jersey tomato fields are sometimes swept 
by blight, as was the case with the early plantings in i8g6. 
This disease is hard to manage. It results probably from an 
enfeebled condition of the plant, caused by unsuitable weather. 
The late plantings are less liable to attack. The temptation 
to be first in the market with home-grown products some- 
times leads growers to run unwise risks in setting out their 
plants, or to set out plants not properly hardened. If the 
weather is good the experiment succeeds, but if the nights 
are cold there are sometimes disastrous failures. The best 
remedy is well-hardened plants, set out not too early. Weak 
Bordeaux mixture may be used with satisfactory results, as a 
preventive of both blight and rot. Flowers of sulphur is also 
to be recommended. (See Prof. Halsted's work with Pota- 
toes). New soil is to be advised, whenever possible, in order 
to secure the crop benefits which come from a rotation ; for 
rotation is a cure for certain diseases which result from 
partial exhaustion. 

Marketing. The best profits from Tomato growing, 
under present market conditions, will be found in the pro- 
duction of a choice article for near-by wholesale or local retail 
trade. Fresh, ripe Tomatoes are always in demand, and in a 



I02 DREER S OPKN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

ripe state they will not bear shipment to distant points. It 
is hence evident that the best prices will always be paid for 
the freshest and most perfect product. Tomatoes from Mis- 
sissippi beg for buyers in the streets of Philadelphia in 
February, at ten cents a box, while home-grown Tomatoes, 
from the greenhouses, are in good demand at four times that 
price. It is better, on the same principle, to sell a half-peck 
of choice, selected, open-air Tomatoes in August for twenty- 
five cents to a private customer than to sell a whole basket of 
unsorted Tomatoes in the wholesale market at the same 
figure. 

The autumn product of Tomatoes is best prolonged by 
gathering the full-sized fruit in October (as late as the frosts 
will permit) and ripening in straw under a hotbed sash. 
The demand for this late fruit is much less than formerly, 
however, as the greenhouse men now arrange to have 
Tomatoes ready early in October. See Vegetables Under 
Glass. 



T ^ I 



% 




GAKDEN LINE, WEEDEK, TKUWEL, DIBBER. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



THE GOURD KINDRED. 

Cantaloupe, Gourd, Pumpkin, 

Citron, Melon, Squash, 

Cucumber, Muskmelon, Watermelon. 
Gherkin. 

These plants are closely allied botanically. They are all 
tender trailing annuals. Most of them have tendrils. The 
flowers are imperfect ; that is, a plant bears only staminate 
(pollen-producing) flowers, or only pistillate (seed-producing) 
flowers ; or both kinds of flowers may be produced on the 
same plant — yet each individual flower is imperfect or incom- 
plete. 

To perfect the seed the pollen must be carried from the 
staminate flower to the pistillate flower. This work is 
naturally done by bees. When these plants are grown under 
glass the fertilization must be done artificially. A camel's 
hair brush may be used for the purpose. The process is 
simple. It is merely necessary to touch the pollen with the 
brush, and then to touch the pistil. Gardeners carry bees 
into greenhouses where cucumbers are grown, in order to 
have the work of pollination done more cheaply and effec- 
tually. 

The Gourd group includes many curious forms of vege- 
tables, yet the type of growth is quite uniform. There is the 
widest variety in the color, shape and markings of the 
pumpkins, the squashes, the gourds and the cucumbers, and 
a decided tendency toward hybridism all through the group. 
It is almost impossible, for instance, to draw a sharp dividing 
line between squashes and pumpkins ; and the variety of each 
is truly unlimited. In general terms, however, the Gourd 
group is separable into melons, cucumbers, gourds, pumpkins 



I04 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

and squashes. All the members of the group demand warm 
soil, preferably rather sandy ; and all respond to manure and 
culture. 

In heavy soils it is recommended that underdrainage be 
provided for by means of coal ashes or otherwise. Careful 
selection has developed strains of the different "gourds" 
which are adapted to nearly all good soils. 

CANTALOUPE, MELON, MUSKMELON. 

A light, rich soil is the proper home for the melon, in all 
its varieties. The seed should be sowed in May, after the 
ground has become warm. An ounce of seed will plant fifty 
hills. Well-rotted manure in the hill is advisable ; but it 
must be thoroughly rotted — not fresh. Three plants to the 
hill are sufficient, though six to twelve seeds are usually put 
in. The hills should be four feet apart, with from four to 
six feet between the rows, depending on the variety. The 
young plants are benefited by pinching off the tips, when the 
plants are a foot or two in length, in order to encourage a 
branching habit. The plants can be started on small pieces 
of inverted sods, in hotbeds, if desired, in order to secure 
earliness. 

Jenny Lind and Golden Jenny are reliable early varieties. 
Cassabah is the largest muskmelon grown. Triumph is one 
of the best new melons. Netted Pineapple or Nutmeg, Hack- 
ensack. Emerald Gem and Miller Cream are reliabls sorts. 

New Jersey produces melons in abundance and perfec- 
tion. Pennsylvania soil is well suited to certain varieties. 
Martin McTigue, gardener at St. Joseph's Convent, Chestnut 
Hill, Philadelphia, plants Jenny Lind for an early melon, but 
depends mainly on Netted Pineapple. He sows the seed the 
middle of May, in hills four feet apart, the rows being five 
leet apart ; four plants to the hill. The hills are prepared by 
incorporating rotted manure and sand with the soil. Mr, 
McTigue' s crop is very satisfactory. 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. J05 

Ernst Schreiber, gardener to W. L. Elkins, Ashbourne, 
Pa., uses Jenny lyind. Golden Jenny and Emerald Gem. The 
soil is rather heavy. The melons are sometimes started in 
pots and sometimes in the open air. In 1896 the hills were 
made six feet apart each way, and twelve seeds to a hill were 
planted April 25. During cold nights the hills were covered 
with boxes with glass tops. In preparing each hill a hole 
1)4. feet deep was dug, and a foot of rotted manure put in, 
and covered with six inches of soil. Three plants were left 
in each hill. As soon as five or six leaves were formed the 
tip of each plant was pinched off, to encourage branching, 
"as cantaloupes do not fruit on the main stem." After the 
setting of the fruit the terminal buds were again pinched off, 
to hasten maturity. In addition to the manure under the 
hill, a little chicken manure and a little fertilizer were used 
to stimulate the growth of the plants. After the plants had 
made a fair start the ' ' hill ' ' was formed by drawing earth to 
the stems with a hoe. This method of using a large amount 
of manure under the hill would be too drying in its effects for 
a light, sandy soil. 

Mr. Schreiber planted cantaloupes among onions in 1896, 
with good results. The onions of course came off early, and 
left the ground clear for the vines. The experiment was very 
satisfactory. The Cantaloupes were planted about the middle 
of June and bore until the first of October. It was Mr. 
Schreiber' s opinion that the onions kept the striped bugs 
away from the young Cantaloupes. 

CUCUMBERS AND GHERKINS. 

The preparation of the soil recommended for Cantaloupes 
will apply as well to Cucumbers. Three or four plants to the 
hill, and the hills four feet apart each way, with rotted 
manure in each hill — such are the requirements. 

The Improved Early White Spine is an old, reliable 
market favorite, adapted to the open air or to frames. The 




I06 DRERRS OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

Ivong Green or Jersey Pickle is a standard sort for pickling. 
The Small Gherkin or Burr is used only for pickling. 

The English forcing cucumbers are now widely known in 
America, but are grown mainly as winter crops, under glass. 
An illustration made from an 1896 pho- 
tograph (see chapter on irrigation) shows 
how the New England gardeners water their 
Cucumber vines in the open field to keep 
them in growth and productiveness. 

Cucumbers are sometimes attacked by 
aphides or green lice in the open field, caus- 
ing a curling of the leaf and loss of vitality 
of the plant. Or, to reverse the proposition, 
GHERKIN. it may be true that cold, unfavorable weather 

stunts the Cucumber without injuring the aphis on the under 
side of the leaf. Cucumbers in the southern part of New 
Jersey were thus affected in 1896. The suggested remedy is 
later planting and higher culture, with irrigation to encour- 
age growth. 

The striped beetle is one of the worst enemies of the 
young Cucumber, and it is common practice to plant a dozen 
seeds in a hill to allow for loss by insects. Paris green in 
flour is sometimes used against this beetle. Tobacco dust is 
perhaps as effectual as anything else. 

It is necessary to pull Cucumbers as soon as they are 
grown, whether needed or not ; otherwise they take the 
strength of the plant for the development of their seeds, and 
check the bearing habit of the parent vine. 

WATERMELON AND CITRON. 

Eight feet each way is about the proper distance for 
Watermelon hills, as the vines occupy much space. A sandy 
soil is preferable, and a high temperature is essential to 
growth. Sweet Heart is one of the new watermelons. Dixie, 
Mountain Sweet, Kolb Gem, Cuban Queen, Boss, Ice Cream 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



107 



and Ironclad are well-known types. The so-called Citrons 
are closely allied to Watermelons. Colorado Preserving 
Citron is a good variety. 

The culture of Watermelons in New Jersey, where the 
soil is favorable, is an industry of wide importance. Fields 
of these melons many acres in extent are grown there, and 
the product shipped to Philadelphia and elsewhere. When 
the season is favorable the crop is profitable, but sometimes 
(as in 1896) wide areas suffer from what is variously termed 
blight, wilt or watermelon disease. The vines die suddenly, 
without apparent cause, the result of a stem fungus. The 
remedy is burning the old vines and planting in new soil. 

Martin McTigue, gardener at St. Joseph's Convent, 
Chestnut Hill, Pa., prepares hills the same as for Canta- 
loupes, six feet apart each way. He finds the Mountain 
Sweet variety suited to his soil. He grows melons weighing 
twenty pounds. 

The seed planting date is the same as for Cantaloupe ; 
about the middle of May, after the weather has become warm 
and settled. 

GOURDS. 

Gourds run into all sorts of odd 
shapes, from that of a " nest egg ' ' to 
that of an " Indian club. ' ' They are 
curious rather than useful, but are so 
ornamental that they are worthy of a 
place either in the flower garden or 
among the vegetables. They are all 
warm weather growers. Most of them 
are climbers. 




PUMPKINS AND SQUASHES. 

It is almost as difficult to tell the difference between a 
Pumpkin and a Squash as between a Cantaloupe and a 
Muskmelon. The Squash, as a rule, has a thicker stem, a 



io8 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

harder skin, a deeper flesh and a finer grain than the Pump- 
kin. The former, by the same general definition, is better 
fitted for human food than the latter. But the two things, 
Squash and Pumpkin, approach each other very closely in 
certain forms. The so-called Cashaw and Cheese Pumpkins 
are almost identical with certain crook-neck Squashes. The 
Connecticut Field Pumpkin, commonly grown in the corn- 
fields of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, is clearly a "pump- 
kin," adapted chiefly to cow-feeding purposes. 

Squashes. Squashes and Pumpkins demand merely 
good soil and warm weather for their growth. They are rank 
growers, and the bees fertilize their blossoms. 

The Squash tribe includes a long list of good food plants. 
The Early White Bush should be planted three or four feet 
apart each way, and the running kinds six to eight feet apart. 
Three plants to the hill 'should be allowed to grow, though 
more seeds are always planted, to allow for insect attacks. 
Golden Custard Bush and Yellow Summer Crookneck are 
other early sorts. 

Summer and fall varieties include Cook's Favorite, Bos- 
ton Marrow, Vegetable Marrow, Hubbard, Marblehead and 
others. Winter or long-keeping sorts include Pike's Peak, 
Mammoth Chili and Bay State. 

The Squashes have high merit for use in the kitchen, 
and are equally available for the stable, except the extra- 
hard-shelled sorts, which must be chopped fine if fed to cows. 

The crook-neck varieties of both Squash and Pumpkin 
are especially available on the farm, as they are good keepers 
and make excellent food for both man and beast. 

Something more will be said about Pumpkins and 
Squashes in Chapter XXVIII. 



CHAPTER XXII. 




WLIES IN NAME. 
Garlic, 
Leek, 



Onion, 

Shallots. 



The vegetable garden members of 
the great lily family are several. The 
list includes Asparagus, Chives, Gar- 
lic, Leek, Onions and Shallots. These 
plan.ts are not all lily-like in appear- 
ance, but are grouped together by 
botanists on account of their blossom 
shapes. They belong to the great 
botanic order called Endogens, along 
^' with the grasses. Corn belongs to this 
order, and is a grass in fact. Most of 
the garden vegetables and fruits are 
classed in the order called Exogens. 
The common vegetable garden mem- 
^^^^■^- bers of the lily family are hardy. As- 

paragus and Onions (including Shallots) are treated in other 
chapters. 

Chives. Chives are closely allied to Onions and Garlic, 
and are the smallest onions in cultivation. They are per- 
ennial and perfectly hardy, and are easily grown. The tops 
are used for flavoring purposes, and may be cut several times 
during a season. Chives are propagated by division of the 
root clumps, and should be set in clusters nine to twelve 
inches apart. The tops are often eaten raw. 

Leek, This vegetable is an onion in fact, though the 
stem rather than the bulb is eaten ; in fact, there is no great 
bulb development. The plant is quite hardy and of easy 



no DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

culture, demanding light, rich soil. Sow in April, in rows a 
foot apart ; the seed an inch below the surface. When the 
plants are six inches high transplant to permanent rows, a 
foot apart, and six inches apart in the rows. The young Leek 
should be planted deep, so as to blanch the neck. Seed may- 
be sown in August or September, and the transplanting done 
in the spring. Great quantities of Leeks are wintered over in 
the open ground near Philadelphia and New York, and give 
bright color to the autumn and winter gardens. Large 
American Flag and Giant Carentan are favorite sorts. 

Garlic. Garlic is 
another member of the 
Onion family that is largely 
grown by market garden- 
ers. The divisions of the 
bulb are called ' ' cloves ' ' or 
sets, and these are planted 
in rows twelve inches apart, 
with the sets six inches 
GARLIC. apart in the row. It is 

grown in considerable quantities at Philadelphia, and is har- 
vested and treated much like the Onion. As soon as the 
leaves turn color the crop is mature, and may be harvested. 
As a flavor Garlic is more pungent than Onion. 




CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE GOOSEFOOT TRIBE. 



Beet, 

Mangel Wurzel, 



Chard, 
Spinach, 




•SPINACH UNDER LIDS OR SHUTTERS. 
Thomas Dvvyer, gardener to Dr. J. A. DaCosta, Villa Nova, January 4, 1897. 

The plants embraced by the "goosefoot" family are, 
according to Dr. Gray, "chiefly herbs of homely aspect." 
The botanic name of the family is Chenopodiacese. It includes 
a number of common weeds, such as goosefoot, pigweed, 
lamb's quarters, etc. It also includes such garden vegetables 
as beet, mangel wurzel, chard, spinach and orach. These 
are all "herbs of homely aspect." They are quite hardy, 
but not all frost proof. 

Ill 



112 DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

BEETS AND CHARD. 

High fertility is needed for beets. The rows may be a foot 
apart, for hand work, or two and a half feet apart for horse 
work. An ounce of seed will sow fifty feet of drill ; or five 
to six pounds of seed to the acre. Light soil is preferable for 
beets ; the more highly manured the better. The plants 
must be thinned out to stand four to six inches apart in the 
row. Beets six inches apart will mature much more quickly 
than if standing three inches apart. Sowing may continue 
from the earliest spring until July. High culture is de- 
manded. The seeds are usually sown with a drill, about an 
inch under the surface. 

The earliest varieties are Egyptian and Crosby's Egyp- 
tian, quickly followed by Eclipse, Lentz and Bassano. These 
varieties are turnip-shaped or round. Excelsior Blood, Bas- 
tian's Blood Turnip, Early Blood Turnip and Edmand's 
Blood Turnip are among the many good sorts now on the 
market. Early Bassano has flesh that is white and rose 
colored, and is very sweet. The extra early beets are not 
quite as sweet as the second-early sorts. The " half-long" 
sorts are late. 

Chard. Swiss Chard is a 
beet. The midrib of the leaf is 
stewed and served as Asparagus, 
the leaves themselves being 
cooked and used like spinach. 
The culture is the same as for 
other beets. 

Prices. Prices of beets are 

very variable. The earliest pro- 

cHARD. ducts of hotbeds and frames reach 

high quotations — lo to 20 cents a bunch, wholesale. From 

these figures the price quickly drops to $2 to $3 per hundred 

bunches, depending on weather and conditions. The early 




DREER S OPEN-AIR VKGETABLES. 



113 



bunches require seven or eight beets, while five beets make 
a full-sized bunch in late spring and summer. But when it 
is remembered that an acre planted twelve inches by six 
inches will yield over 75,000 beets, it is easy to figure out 
large gross receipts from the crop. The cost of growing is 
considerable, however, and the market gardeners make only 
fair profits. The ground can be cleared and used for 
another crop the same season. 

Beets vary in their habits somewhat in difierent soils, 
and no better advice can be given inexperienced persons than 
to urge a fair comparative trial of all the standard types. It 
costs no more to grow ten kinds of beets than one kind, so 
far as culture and care are concerned. 

Winter Storage. For preservation during winter a 
root cellar affords the greatest convenience. The beets should 
be covered with sand in the cellar, and well ventilated during 
suitable weather. Or they may be kept in heaps in the open 
field, preferably packed in sand. The heap should be given 
a roof-shaped pitch on all sides, and covered with straw laid 
so as to shed water. Upon the straw the soil must be heaped 
to a depth of eight or ten inches. 

Testimony of George Shallcross. George Shall- 
cross lives on the Bustleton pike, above Frankford, Philadel- 
phia, and grows great quantities of beets for the wholesale 
market. "Good seed is the main thing," says Mr. Shall- 
cross ; the "main thing," it will be observed, after using 
from forty to sixty tons of rotted city manure per acre on the 
land for beets, "with a little fertilizer to start things." This 
is Mr. Shallcross' system. 

On the 15th of June, 1896, Mr. Shallcross was in his 
beet patch making ready for market. A portable table had 
been set up, and the beets were tied and topped in the field, 
the washing being done afterward. This method avoids the 
carriage of tops and part of the soil which adheres to the 
beets when pulled. 



114 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

L,entz is a favorite variety. Egyptian and Eclipse are 
grown under glass. Bastian's Half-long is used for a late beet. 

Mr. Shallcross sows beets in the open air just as soon as 
possible — April i to April 5. The rows are made one foot 
apart, and the plants left five inches apart in the row. Mr. 
Shallcross leaves them six inches apart " if in a hurry," or 
four inches apart " if not in a hurry." His average distance 
is five inches, as quoted. 

The stable manure is fermented for the double purpose 
of killing weed seeds and getting more manure into the 
ground. Rotted manure is much more available for plant 
food than in its fresh condition. 

SUGAR BEETS. 

The Sugar Beet industry in the United States is on the 
increase. Factories for making beet sugar have been estab- 
lished in California, Utah and Nebraska, and others have 
been proposed. The principal use of the Sugar Beet in the 
eastern part of the United States at the present time is for 
stock-feeding purposes, for which it is well adapted. Various 
amounts of seed per acre are recommended, depending on the 
planting distance and intended method of culture. In three- 
foot rows, for horse culture, six or eight pounds per acre will 
be needed. In closely-planted patches seed is sometimes used 
to the amount of twenty-six pounds per acre. 

High manuring the previous year and subsoiling are 
recommended for Sugar Beets. Farmers' Bulletin No. 3, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, suggests wheat, beets, 
clover and potatoes as forming a scientific rotation. 

l.IANGEL WURZEL. 

This crop is a highly important one in stock-feeding 
operations. It is a farm product, and has no especial place 
in the economy of the market garden. It is often grown in 
private gardens as a food for the family cow. It demands 
deep soil and high culture. 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. II5 

The Mammoth I^ong Red is one of the best red types 
and Golden Tankard a good yellow variety. The rows 
should be thirty inches apart for horse culture. Mangels are 
preserved in root cellars or by burying, and should not be 
fed until after a period of storage, which ripens them and 
makes them more digestible. They make a good food for 
animals, especially cows and sheep, if not fed in excess. 
They are best in quality when not too large in size. The 
remedy for over-growth is close planting — say six inches 
apart in the rows. 



Spinach is one of the most hardy members of the ' ' goose- 
foot " group of vegetables. It is grown for its leaves, which 
afiford excellent ''greens" in fall, winter and spring. It is 
grown both under glass and in the open air — usually on the 
latter plan. 

The cultural requirements are simple. In good soil it 
may be sown broadcast from August until October. That 
which is sown first will be fit for market all winter, if pro- 
tected with a little straw ; provided a snow fall does not make 
it inaccessible. That sown in October will be small, and will 
not be ready to cut until spring. Spinach seed sown in early 
spring will yield a quick crop, but warm weather will cause 
it to speedily run to seed. 

Spinach is sold by measure, an average retail price 
being fifteen cents per half peck. When sold by the barrel, 
wholesale, it commands but a fraction of that price. It is 
grown by the acre near all large cities. Indeed, whole fields 
of it are grown for the autumn markets. 

To prepare it for sale the whole plant is cut off at the 
root. Dead or yellow leaves are removed, and it is carefully 
rinsed in clean water. Prepared thus it sells readily, though 
the price is often quite low. Frequently, however, spinach 
is scarce, and it then commands high prices. 



Il6 DREER'S open-air vegetables. 

The Rhode Island Station issued a bulletin on Spinach 
in November, 1896. Thirty-six diflferent varieties were 
tested, obtained from seedsmen all over the United States. 
These several sorts resolved themselves into six groups, dur- 
ing the progress of the trial, as follows : 

1. Norfolk or Bloomsdale Spinach. Plants more or less 
vase-form ; leaves broad, thick and self-supporting, and not 
naturally resting upon the ground. Soon running to seed. 

2. Round-leaved Spinach. Plants compact in habit; 
leaves rounded in outline and formed close to the ground. A 
slow-growing sort, as compared to other types. Blossom 
stalks form tardily. 

3. Thick-leaved Spinach. Plants large ; leaves long 
and spreading out upon the ground ; ends and lobes of leaves 
more or less pointed. 

4. Prickly Seeded Spinach. Plants variable. Leaves 
often with long and slender stalks and rather narrow blades. 
Seeds with horn-like projections. 

5. New Zealand Spinach. Plants diffusely branched, 
often three or four feet across, with leaves resembling those of 
the true Spinach in appearance. 

6. Mountain Spinach or Garden Orache. Plants some- 
times four feet high, with lateral branches. Leaves light 
green or dark red. 

Of the first group Dreer's Round Seeded Savoy is a type. 
Victoria and Long Standing Round Seeded are types of the 
second group, Catillon Long Standing of the third group. 
Prickly Seeded of the fourth group, and New Zealand of the 
fifth group. The sixth group is not always mentioned in 
seed catalogues, though Orach or Orache is not a new thing 
in the vegetable garden. 

Among the conclusions of the Rhode Island bulletin are 
that Norfolk Spinach is too liable to go to seed early ; that 
Round-leaved Spinach is of firm texture and ships well ; that 
Thick-leaved Spinach is particularly valuable for a near 
market. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 



117 



New Zealand Spinach is not closely related to the true 
Spinach botanically, nor is it a plant of similar habits, but it 
makes a good substitute for Spinach, and can be grown to 
perfection during the hot months. 




NEW ZEALAND SPINACH. 



Mountain Spinach or Orach has a peculiar flavor, and is 
not always liked by people accustomed to true Spinach, to 
which it is botanically related. 

Diseases. As Spinach demands a rich soil, involving 
the use of heavy coats of manure, it is subject to several dis- 
eases, mostly fungous in character. The best remedy is a 
new location, with rotation of crops. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 




THE COMPOSITES. 

Artichoke— Globe, Endive, Sunflower, 

Artichoke— Jerusalem, Lettuce, Tansy, 

Cardoon, Salsify, Tarragon, 

Chicory, Salsify— Black, Wormwood. 

Dandelion, 

The composite - flowered vegetables are 

mostly hardy. Lettuce is the most important 

member of the group. The blossom type is 

peculiar, the flowers being what the older 

botanists called compound. In other words, each so-called 

flower is a collection of several or many individual flowers. 

The Chicory is a good example. 

ARTICHOKES. 

The two commercial Artichokes, Globe and Jerusalem, 
are of wholly different types. The former furnishes edible 
buds or heads ; the latter edible tubers. Jerusalem Artichoke 
is merely a tuberous-rooted sunflower. 

Globe Artichoke. The edible 
portion is the undeveloped flower head. 
After the head unfolds it is unfit for 
use ; and if the heads are not removed 
the plant ceases to produce new buds. 
The heads are tender and fleshy, and 
are boiled, and served with butter, 
pepper and salt. The plant is a per- 
ennial. The seed should be sown an 
inch and a half deep, and thinned out 
to a foot apart in the row. The next 
spring the plants should be set in a 
permanent bed, at distances of two by 

118 




GLUBE ARTICHOKE. 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



119 



three feet. A deep, rich loam is demanded, and the plants 
need winter protection. Large Green Globe is the best kind 
for general culture. 

John Ward, gardener to Mrs. John Bohlen, Chestnut 
Hill, sows Green Globe Artichoke in hills three to five feet 
apart, where it is to remain, and leaves three plants to a hill. 
Manure is freely used. Mice prove to be a serious enemy, in 
his experience. Winter protection with straw is required. 

Jerusalem Artichoke. This is entirely distinct from 
Globe Artichoke. It is multiplied by planting the tubers, 
which somewhat resemble potatoes. The tubers are used for 
pickles, and sometirnes for stock-feeding purposes. If 
neglected it sometimes becomes a weed, as it is a hardy per- 
ennial, and has a tendency to escape from cultivation. It 
sometimes takes possession of fence corners or other unoccu- 
pied ground. 

CARDOON. 

A rank, rough, hardy perennial, 
highly esteemed for the midribs of the 
leaves, which are used for salads, 
soups and stews after blanching. It is 
bleached with earth, like celery. The 
seeds may be sown in April, for trans- 
planting into permanent quarters the 
following year ; or the seed may 
be started in rich, highly-manured 
trenches, and allowed to remain there. 
The plants should stand a foot apart 
in the rows, the rows themselves being 
three feet apart. Cardoon grows three 
or four feet high. The leaves are tied 
together previous to blanching. Large 
Smooth Solid is the best variety. 




DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



CHICORY, 




The two sorts 

of Chicory are the 

Common or "Wild 

and the Large 

Rooted. The for- 
mer produces the 

' ' Barbe de Cap- 

ucin," a French 

salad. The latter 

is used as a sub- chicory. 

stitute for Coffee. 

The seed of Common or Wild Chicory 

may be had at the seed stores. Sow in 
June, and transplant in autumn to a warm cellar, in sand. 
The young shoots form the salad-making material. 

The Large Rooted Chicory is cultivated like carrot, and 
is used for mixing with coffee. 







DANDELION. 

Dandelion has 
become a garden 
staple, and is grown 
by the acre, espe- 
cially near Boston. 
Broad - leaved and 
Improved Thick- 
leaved are good vari- 
eties, the latter being 
in highest favor. 
DANDELION Dandclion is a per- 

ennial, and requires over a year to mature. It resembles 
Endive in general appearance. It is used as a salad or for 
"greens," and is a good and wholesome article of food. 

Mr. Rawson says that a rather sandy soil, not too rich, 




DREER'S open-air vegetables. 121 

is best for Dandelion growing at Boston. The rows should 
be twelve inches apart, and the seeds covered about one- 
fourth of an inch deep. Under glass the rows are made but 
six inches apart. It is marketed like spinach — thirteen 
pounds to the bushel. Mr. Rawson says that when prices 
run high ($i per bushel) the proceeds per acre reach $rooo ; 
and that at fifty cents per bushel the crop is a paying one. It 
is commonly grown throughout the eastern part of New Eng- 
land. It is sown in early spring, sometimes in alternate rows 
with spinach. 




Endive is a stand- 
ard salad-making 
vegetable for autumn 
and winter use. It is 
also employed for or- 
namental or advertis- 
ing purposes at the 
restaurants during 
cold weather, on ac- 
count of its color and 
beauty. An ounce of 
'^^^'^■'*' seed is sufficient for 

150 feet of row. It may be sown in April for early use, 
and in June or July for autumn use. The plants must be 
thinned out to a foot apart in the row, or young plants 
may be set out from a seed-bed. The blanching is done by 
gathering the leaves together and tying with yarn or raffia, 
so as toexclude the light from the heart of the plant. The 
effect is that the inner leaves all become white, while the 
outer leaves are green. A board is sometimes laid flat on 
the Endive plant, to produce the same result. The plant 
must be handled only when dry, or the leaves will rot. 
Endive will endure a good deal of frost. 

Reliable varieties of Endive are Green Curled Winter 



122 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 



and White Curled. The latter is the " chicory salad " of the 
restaurants. Broad-leaved Batavian Endive is sometimes 
called Escarolle, and Giant Fringed is sometimes called 
Oyster Endive. 

LETTUCE. 
This is by far the most important member of the Com- 
posite group of vegetables. It has a deserved place in all 
gardens, both large and small, during the summer season. 
See Chapter XIV. 

SALSIFY AND BLACK SALSIFY. 

Salsif)^, or Oyster Plant, or 
Vegetable Oyster, is an excellent 
thing during the winter months. 
It is sowed and grown like the car- 
rot. It is hardy, and can be left 
in the ground all winter, if desired. 
It thrives best in a well-enriched, 
mellow soil. It should be sown 
early in spring, one inch below the 
surface, in rows fifteen inches apart, 
and thinned out to six inches in the 
row. Mammoth Sandwich Island 
is the leading and best type. Long 
White is an Dlder variety, and by 
some growers held in highest esteem. 
Black Salsify, or Scorzonera, 
resembles ordinary Salsify, and is 
grown in the same way, but mostly 
by private gardeners. 

Martin Geary, gardener to Fred- 
Villa Nova, Pa., 
sows Salsify May i. In 1896, being short of manure, he 
opened a furrow with a small plow and used chicken manure 
and coal ashes in the row, and also some wood ashes. The 




MAMMOTH 
SANDWICH ISLAND SALSIFY. 

Martin Geary, gardener to 
Frederick W. Morris, Villa Nova, 

Pa., January 4, 1897. erick W. Morris 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 123 

Salsify seed was sown in rows two and one-half feet apart, 
and the plants thinned to five inches in the row. Cultiva- 
tion was freely given, the ground being worked after every 
rain. The results were very satisfactory. The engraving in 
this chapter was made from a bunch of Salsify grown as 
described. It was a bunch made from roots taken from the 
ground in January, 1897, ^^^ individual roots being an inch 
and a half to two inches in diameter. 

SUNFLOWER. 
This has but small claim to recognition in the vegetable 
garden, but is sometimes planted for ornamental purposes or 
for poultry food. The Mammoth Russian is the leading 
variety. The Sunflowers are annuals, but their stems are 
hard and woody. 

TANSY, TARRAGON, WORMWOOD. 

Tansy is a hardy perennial herb used sometimes for 
medicinal purposes. It bears a yellow flower, and is quite 
ornamental in appearance. It has aromatic foliage. It is 
not exterminated by neglect. 

Tarragon is a hardy perennial, cultivated for its leaves 
and young shoots, which are used for flavoring salads, soups, 
pickles, etc. Tarragon vinegar, in high esteem as a sauce, 
is made by putting Tarragon leaves into common vinegar. 
The plant is propagated from seeds or root cuttings. 

Wormwood is a hardy aromatic shrub, sometimes used 
in medicine. 



CHAPTER XXV. 





the; 


PARSI.EYS. 




Anise, 




Chervil, 


Fennel, 


Caraway, 




Coriander, 


Parsley, 


Carrot, 




Cumin, 


Parsnip, 


Celeriac, 




Dill, 


Sweet Cicely. 


Celery, 










The Parsley family, called the Umbelliferae by 
botanists, is a large and important one. The 
flowers are much alike, and classification is based 
upon the seeds. Some of the plants are poisonous and some 
innocent. Some are poisonous when wild and harmless when 
under cultivation, like the parsnip. Of the above-mentioned 
plants four are of high importance in the vegetable garden. 
These are Carrot, Celery, Parsley and Parsnip. Celeriac and 
Chervil are also much grown, while the others are less com- 
mon. The family is a hardy one. 

CARROTS. 

The market gardeners 
appreciate the Carrot, and 
make money with it. The 
smaller kinds are grown 
under glass in great 
quantities, and the larger 
sorts are also cultivated 
to a considerable extent. 
The miniature Carrots 
are sold alone or with pot 
herbs. 

The Philadelphia mar- 
ket men sow Carrot seed 
in October, in cold frames, 
and mature the roots the 
following May. Lettuce 
Early Scarlet Horn Carrot. or Radish between the 




dreer's open-air vegetables. 125 

rows adds to the profits of the Carrot crop. Early Scarlet 
Horn and Half-long Nantes are useful for either fall or spring 
planting under glass ; also for the open air. Danvers Half- 
long is an excellent sort for the first open-air sowing in April. 
St. Valery and Nichols' Improved Long Orange are reliable 
late or field types. 

One ounce of seed will sow 150 feet of drill ; or three to 
six pounds per acre. The best soil is a deep, rich, sandy 
loam, without too much manure. The early sorts may be 
sowed from early April to the end of May, in rows a foot apart, 
and the plants thinned to three or four inches in the row. 
This system of planting demands hand work. 

The main or field crop should be sowed in June, in rows 
far enough apart to permit of horse work. In this planting, 
as the weather is often dry, great care should be exercised to 
roll or tramp the drills, in order to compact the soil about the 
seeds and insure germination. 

CELERY. 
This crop is one of great money importance. For details 
the reader is referred to Chapter XIII of this book. A new 
Celery not there described is the Rose-ribbed Paris. It is a 
sport of the Paris Golden Self-Blanching, and has the same 
clear color, but the ribs are a pretty shade of rose. It was 
grown in perfection by R. B. Plumley, Lincoln University, 
Pa., in 1896, and shown in well-bleached and well-preserved 
form during the succeeding winter. (Dreer Note-Book, Lin- 
coln University, December 12, 1896). 

PARSLEY. 

Parsley is grown largely in winter under glass, as well as 
during the warmer months of the year in the open air. It is 
almost hardy. Some Philadelphia gardeners carry it nearly 
or quite through the winter under a covering of straw, but as 
it quickly runs to seed the second season this practice merely 
yields extra late and extra early leaves. It must be sown 



i26 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

each spring for open-air work, and as it germinates slowly it 
is best to get the seeds into the ground very early. It should 
be sowed in rows a foot apart, one-fourth inch deep, and 
thinned to five or six inches apart in the row to get large 
plants. The seeds should be soaked before planting. There 
are many varieties on the market. Half Curled and Dwarf 
Extra Curled Perpetual are good sorts. Parsley is the pret- 
tiest garnish afforded by the garden. Its sale in the city 
markets, both winter and summer, is almost unlimited. 
Market gardeners sometimes build temporary frames over 
out-of-doors beds, and cover the Parsley with glass sashes in 
autumn or early winter. The plants can be carried over 
winter in this manner. 

PARSNIP. 

Parsnips require a deep soil for their full development. 
They are perfectly hardy, and may be left in the open ground 
all winter, just as they grow in the rows. The seed is light. An 
ounce will sow 200 feet of drill. The quantity required for 
an acre is five or six pounds. The sowing should be done in 
early spring, and the plants thinned out to six inches in the 
row. If hand culture is intended the rows may be 15 inches 
apart ; or three feet apart for horse culture. The seed should 
be placed about half an inch under ground. Good culture is 
demanded. The crop is a slow one, and is suited to the farm 
rather than to the market garden ; though Parsnips should 
be grown wherever the market demands them. Freezing 
improves rather than injures their flavor. They naturally 
run to seed the second season. Large Sugar or Hollow Crown 
is a standard sort. Student or Guernsey is another valuable 
type. Parsnips are used to some extent for stock food. 

celeriac. 
Celeriac is a turnip-rooted Celery. The seed should be 
sown the same way as Celery seed, and the young plants set 
out in rows two feet apart and nine inches apart in the row. 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 



127 



Thorough cultivation is necessary. It is preserved in winter 
by banking with earth. It is grown to a considerable extent 
in the Philadelphia market gardens. It is eaten either cooked 
or raw. In the latter case it makes an excellent salad. 




WASHING CELERIAC. 
William Backus, Evergreen, Long Island, October 30, 1S96. 

The illustration is from a Dreer photograph, taken on 
Long Island, a few miles from Brooklyn. As shown in the 
picture, three stalks of Celeriac make a bunch. 

Apple-shaped is a standard variety of Celeriac ; also 
Giant Smooth Prague. 

SOME OTHER "parsleys." 

The following should be sown in rich, mellow ground, 
in spring. Some are annual ; some perennial. They are all 
aromatic and pleasant, and if cut and dried just before coming 
into full blossom, when at their greatest vigor, they are excel- 
lent for medicinal or culinary purposes. For other " herbs " 
see chapter on Mints. 



128 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



Anise. An annual ; for garnishing and flavoring. 
Caraway. A perennial ; for confectionery, medicine and 
flavoring. 

Chervil. An 
annual much re- 
sembling Parsley ; 
used as a salad and 
for seasoning 
soups. Curled 
Chervil is a good 
variety. 

Coriander. 
An annual ; grown 
for its seed and also 
for garnishing ; two 
CHERVIL. feet apart. 

Cumin. An annual ; good for pigeons. 
Dill. An annual ; used green in soups, sauces and pickles ; 
also used as a seed for flavoring. 

Fennel. A perennial ; leaves boiled and used in fish 
sauces. 

Sweet Cicely. A perennial sometimes grown in gardens, 
of pleasant taste. Native to American woodlands. 




CHAPTER XXVI. 



Balm, 
Horehound 
Lavender 
Mint, 



THE MINTS. 

Rosemary, 

Sage, 

Savory, 



Sweet Basil, 
Sweet Marjoram, 
Thyme. 




The flowers of this group of plants are toore 

or less conspicuously two-lipped. The number 

is large, many being omitted here. A few 

are commercially important, though a majority 

belong with the less common herbs. Mint, Sage and Thyme 

are largely grown by Philadelphia market men. 



This herb (the Spearmint of the meadows, or a slightly 
improved type) is now an important thing in under-glass 
work. It is in demand all winter and also in early spring, 
and its use is apparently increasing. The seedsmen are 
now prepared to answer calls for it. It is grown from root- 
cuttings. It is a perennial, but requires renewal. 




Sage is a perennial herb grown in 
large commercial quantities. Its culture 
is simple and easy. There are several 
varieties on the market, variously named, 
as Common, Red, Purple, etc. It may 
be bought as seeds or as young plants. 
The plants should be set about two feet 
apart, to give room for development. 
The leaves are dried and used for flavor- 
ing, for which purpose it is unexcelled. 

129 



I30 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 



THYME. 

The two varieties most commonly grown are Broad- 
leaved English and French Summer. The Philadelphia 
market men start Thyme in seed beds, and transplant to the 
open ground in rows a foot apart, with plants about the same 
distance apart in the rows. Large patches of Thyme are 
grown in this manner. 

OTHER "mints." 

The other members of the sweet- 
scented group mentioned above are of less 
comparative commercial value. They 
should be sown in spring, in good soil, 
kept free from weeds, and cut for drying 
just before they blossom. 

Balm. A perennial ; used medici- 
nally. 

HoREHOUND. A perennial ; used 
medicinally. 

A perennial ; a valued aromatic herb. 
An aromatic perennial. 
Savory. The summer variety is an annual ; the winter 
variety a perennial. Used for seasoning. 

Sweet Basil. An annual ; used for flavoring. 
Sweet Marjoram. An annual herb used for flavor- 
ing. American-grown seed is best if leaves are to be dried ; 
imported seed is best if leaves are to be used green. 




CHAPTER XXVII. 





A MIXED CLASS. 




Bene, 


Martynia, 


Rue, 


Borage, 


Mushroom, 


Sorrel, 


Caper, 


Nasturtium, 


Strawberry, 


Chufa, 


Okra, 


Sweet Corn, 


Corn Salad, 


Rhubarb, 


Sweet Potato. 


Gnmbo (see Okra), 









Strawberry Type. 



Half the members of this mixed 
class are of major importance in the 
vegetable garden ; the remainder 
Convolvulus Type. Ere of minor Importancc, Commer- 
cially speaking. The convolvulus 
type of flower, shown on the left, fits the Sweet Potato, and 
the rose type of flower on the right belongs to the Straw- 
berry ; but the grouping of all these things in a chapter is 
wholly artificial, and without botanical significance. Straw- 
berries and Sweet Corn have been treated in detail in earlier 
chapters, and will not be again mentioned here. 



CORN SALAD. 

This hardy salad-making vegetable belongs to the 
Valerian family. It is grown in considerable quantities 
near Philadelphia under almost exactly the same cultural 
treatment as lettuce, which it somewhat resembles. Being 
rather smaller, the plants may be set closer together than 
lettuce. Six to eight inches each way is a good planting dis- 
tance. It is frequently called Fetticus. It is used mostly in 
winter and spring, and is often grown under glass in frames. 
The seed may be sown in September in the open ground, and 
the young plants carried through the winter under a light 
protection of straw, like spinach. Large-seeded Corn Salad 
is a reliable variety. See Vegetables Under Glass. 



132 dreer's open-air vegetabi.es. 

mushroom. 

The open-air cultivation of the Mushroom is not a reliable 
method, on account of our changeable weather. The "seed" 
of the Mushroom is commercially called spawn. This sub- 
stance, broken into bits and placed in the sod of a lawn or old 
field, results in a growth among the grass roots of a bluish- 
gray, mouldy-looking material which soon becomes thread- 
like in appearance. This growth is the Mushroom plant, 
from which in due time the Mushrooms will be produced on 
the surface. The Mushroom of commerce is (or corresponds 
to) the blossom or flower of an ordinary plant. The real 
plant is wholly beneath the soil. 

The spawning of a field or lawn is an uncertain opera- 
tion, from the fact that if a shower of rain comes at the criti- 
cal moment of early growth the spawn dies. Out-of-doors 
Mushrooms are only common after long periods of dry 
weather. The dormant spores or seeds of Mushrooms 
(which are infinitely small) are probably in existence in old 
sods at all times. Protracted dry weather in July and 
August gives just the right temperature and moisture among 
the grass roots for starting the growth of the Mushroom 
plant (commonl}^ called mycelium or spawn). 

The cooler weather of September, after the mycelium 
has become strong, favors fruitage. Mushrooms come to 
the surface and are greatly helped by the autumn rains. It 
is during the delicate period of early growth, when the 
reawakened spawn first starts to spread or run, or when the 
spore first begins to develop, that injury is most liable to 
occur. This is the reason why Mushroom growing is more 
profitably done under artificial conditions than in the open 
air. 

To succeed in growing Mushrooms it is only necessary 
to act in accordance with the simple requirements above set 
forth. The spawn runs best in a temperature of 70° to 80°, 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABI.ES. I33 

in a bed (sod, for instance) that is comparatively dry, yet 
still moist. The Mushroom fruits best in a temperature 
of 55° to 60°, and water is an absolute necessity during the 
period of bearing — as necessary then as it was unnecessary 
when the spawn first started to run. 

A heap of sods, such as the florists make in order to get 
potting earth, sometimes produces an abundant supply of 
natural or spontaneous Mushrooms in late autumn and even 
during the winter. 

Experiments in spawning sod piles or lawns are fully 
warranted, provided no commercial dependence is placed 
upon the result, as there are many chances of complete or 
partial failure. Hostile fungi may destroy the spawn, or the 
temperature may be wrong, or the moisture excessive or the 
reverse. 

The demands of the Mushroom are as precise as they 
are simple. Brick spawn is the best for nearly all purposes. 

NASTURTIUM. 

This plant is grown as a flower and 
as a vegetable. It has a place in both 
gardens. It belongs to that curious group 
called the Indian Cress family, of South 
American origin. Nasturtiums are usu- 
ally planted in warm borders, and are 
prized for their richly-colored flowers and 
their pungent fruit. 

John Gaynor, elsewhere quoted, sows 
Nasturtiums in rows twelve inches apart 
and the plants nine inches apart in the 
DWARF NASTURTIUM, row. This favors good cultivation and 
greatly increases blooming and fruit-setting ability. The 
tall-growing varieties are cut back, in order to induce them 
to bear flowers and seeds instead of excessive foliage. Tall 
Mixed and Dwarf Mixed are commercial names for desir- 
able kinds of Nasturtiums, the name describing the habit. 




134 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 




OKRA OR GOMBO. 

This vegetable is grown for 
its pods, which are used in soups 
and stews. It is a member of the 
Malvaceae, or Mallow family. 
The seed should be sown late in 
May, in the open ground, and 
the plants allowed to stand ten or 
twelve inches apart in rows three 
feet apart. White Creole is grown 
largely in the South. Improved 
Green is a standard sort with 
market gardeners at Philadel- 
phia. Dreer's Little Gem is 
OKRA. among the best of the dwarf sorts. 

Robert G. Carey, Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, gardener 
to Thomas C. Price, sows Okra about the first of June, after 
the ground has become warm, with successional plantings 
every three or four weeks. The pods must be pulled for use 
while still soft enough to cut easily with a knife. 

RHUBARB. 

Rhubarb, or Pie Plant, is grown in far larger quantities 
than is generally supposed, both in the open air and under 
glass. Its pleasantly acid taste gives it a market value in 
the late winter and spring months. It is usually grown from 
a division of old roots, but may be had directly from the seed, 
though the latter operation is slow, requiring two or three 
years. Linnaeus and Victoria are standard varieties. St, 
Martin's is a somewhat different type. 

Forced Rhubarb commands from $8 to $io per loo 
bunches, wholesale, for the first. The cold frame product 
commands $4 per 100 bunches, wholesale. Open-air Rhu- 
barb is worth from $1 to $3 per 100 bunches, wholesale. 

Samuel Waters, a market gardener on the Bustleton 



dreer's open-air vegetables. 



135 



turnpike, above Frankford, reported, June 15, 1896, that 
Rhubarb was bringing him $1.50 per 100 bunches, whole- 
sale ; " more than we can get for beets." He was using six 
stalks to the bunch. 

Rhubarb is a member of the Buckwheat family of plants. 



Sorrel belongs in the Polygonaceae or Buckwheat family, 
and is closely related to the dock. It is a perennial, hardy 
plant, used in much the same way as spinach. It is grown 
at Philadelphia, New York and elsewhere, and is purchased 
largely by our foreign population. L,arge-leaved Garden is a 
good variety. 










SOKREL ON LONG ISLAND. 



The engraving is from a Long Island photograph, taken 
October 30, 1896. It shows Sorrel growing both in a frame 
and in the open ground ; though, for the matter of that, the 



136 dreer's open-air vegetables. 

Long Island truckers have a way of building temporary 
frames almost anywhere in their gardens, so that sashes 
may be used to carry certain open-air crops quite through the 
winter. 

The cultivation of Sorrel is simple. If sown in early 
spring it may be cut in June or July. When it runs to seed 
it must be mowed down, so that a new crop of edible leaves 
will be produced. It will last several seasons, but it is con- 
sidered best to replant it every second year or every year. 

SWEET POTATO. 

The Sweet Potato is a member of the Convolvulaceae 
family, and is akin to the morning glory and the moonflower. 
It is a vegetable of great commercial importance, thriving 
best in a rich, sandy soil. It is a tender annual, demanding 
warm weather for its growth. It naturally trails upon the 
ground. 

Sweet Potatoes are propagated from young plants 
obtained from the tubers. The tubers are laid upon their 
sides in prepared beds (which must be heated by manure or 
fire) and covered lightly with soil. The sprouts come up in 
large numbers, and are easily transplanted. 

The production of Sweet Potatoes is a great industry in 
New Jersey, and thousands of acres in the southern portion 
of the state are devoted to this crop. Houses or cellars are 
built especially for storage purposes. The young plants are 
started in hotbeds or fire beds, and set out in May and June. 
The New Jersey fire bed is described in Vegetables Under 
"Glass. 

The rows of Sweet Potatoes in the fields are three or four 
feet apart, and the plants are set two feet apart in the rows. 
A little rotted manure in each hill is a great help to the crop. 
Good culture is demanded, and the vines are carefully lifted 
and turned, to prevent them from rooting, so as to throw 
strength into the tubers. The crop is considered a profitable 
one. Red and Yellow Nansemond are favorite varieties. 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 



137 



PLANTS OF FIVE FAMILIES. 

Martynia. The pods of this plant, when 
young and tender, are used for pickling. The 
seed may be sown in a hotbed and transplanted, 
or sown in May in the open air, in hills three feet 
apart. Martynia belongs in the Bignonia family, 
and is naturally tender. 

Bene. An annual herb, u.sed medicinally. 
It is a member of the Bignonia family. Oil is 
made from the seeds. It is sometimes called the 
oil plant. 

Borage. An annual herb, excellent for 

A member of the Borage family of plants. 

Caper. A tender plant grown for its buds or its unripe 

fruit. Used for pickles. It is a member of the Caper family. 

Rue. a perennial herb, used medicinally ; a member of 

the Rue family of plants. 

Chufa. a sedge, bearing small tubers on its roots. 




PART IV. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



C. E. VARNUM S SQUASH TRIALS. 




PUMPKINS AND SULASIIES. 
C. E. Varnum, Atco, N. J., September 26, lb96. 

A field trial of Squashes and Pumpkins, made at Atco, 
New Jersey, in 1896, is worthy of record. Mr. C. Eddy Var- 
num, a trucker and fruit grower, desired to obtain strains of 
Squashes and Pumpkins best suited to his soil and situation. 
He therefore obtained samples of all the principal sorts from 
several leading seedsmen and made a comparative test. 

This practical method, the simplest that can be devised, 
is the one most rarely practiced. People generally plant either 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 139 

according to custom or in a haphazard way. A systematic 
comparative test costs no more, and yet is sure to yield valu- 
able information. Soils, elevations, exposures and latitudes 
produce a variety of conditions. Pennsylvania clays are 
wholly different from New Jersey sands, and nothing except 
actual test will determine what varieties of fruits and vege- 
tables are best for any particular locality. 

Mr. Varnum plowed down two patches of strawberries 
immediately after the fruiting season, in June, 1896. In one 
patch he planted a long list of Squashes ; in the other patch 
almost as many kinds of Pumpkins. His soil is a gravelly 
loam. No fertilizer was used except hen manure in the hills. 
The several plantings were all carefully marked. 

The result, as seen September 21, by representatives of 
the house issuing this book, was highly interesting. In 
quantity of yield the result might have been larger if the seed 
had been planted earlier and fertilized more heavily, but in 
quality of product the experiment was a complete success. It 
demonstrated exactly which sorts were best suited to that 
locality. 

The best Squashes were Cook's Favorite, Boston Mar- 
row, Hubbard, Winter Crookneck, Mammoth Chili, Sweet 
Nut, Essex Hybird, Pike's Peak, Marblehead, lyow's Bay 
State and Red China. 

The best Pumpkins were Large Cheese, Connecticut 
Field, Tennessee Sweet Potato, Large Tours, Potiron Mam- 
moth and New England Pie. 

There is a local significance to the trial, on account of 
immediate results ; but the general significance lies in the fact 
that the best way to get knowledge is by experience. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



SUPPLYING A LARGE INSTITUTION — A TALK WITH JOHN 
PAGET. 




A FROST-PROOF HOUSE FOR STORAGE OF ROOTS AND VEGETABLES, AT 

PENNSYLVANIA STATE LUNATIC ASYLUM, HARRISBURG, PA. 

DESIGNED BY JOHN PAGET. 

John Paget is in charge of the gardening and landscape 
work at the Pennsylvania State Lunatic Asylum, Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania. The institution is a large one, and the duties 
of the gardener involve the production of immense quantities 
of vegetables. Mr. Paget brought practical knowledge with 
him from over the seas, to which he has added a quarter of a 
century of horticultural experience in America. His ways 
of doing things will be of interest to readers of this book. 
The following crude and imperfect notes refer to "A Talk 
with John Paget " that occurred in January, 1897. 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 141 

A Complete Storage House. The root and vege- 
table storage house shown in the illustration was constructtd 
on plans drawn by Mr. Paget. It is 84x40 feet in size, with 
first story stone. A cart or wagon can be driven directly 
through the building. On each side of this passage way are 
large bins, made of boards, with air spaces under them and 
also separating them from the outer walls. Potatoes, Carrots 
and other roots are stored in the lower part of the building, 
which is wholly frost proof. The upper or frame portion of 
the building is also proof against cold, as the sides are six 
inches thick and the roof five inches thick, the spaces being 
filled with coke dust. The windows have inside shutters, 
and the whole second story is snug and warm. It is used for 
the storage of large quantities of onions, herbs, etc. 

Every large bin in the first story has a ventilating door 
opening upward into the second story, close to a window, so 
that the arrangements for ventilation are perfect. The building 
also contains several small rooms used for other than root- 
storage purposes. One is a room for seeds, and another is an 
office. 

General System. Provision is made in the Asylum 
gardens for the economic use of manure produced on the 
premises. At the hog pen the drainage passes into a manure 
well, from whence it is distributed by means of a cart especially 
prepared for the purpose. The general plan is to put all 
manure on the potato and cabbage patches. Celery always 
follows potatoes. Manure is used in the hills for Lima beans. 
Phosphate is used with Corn and Tomatoes. Peas and Beans 
do not require such rich ground. 

Peas. Three-fourths of an acre is sowed with Peas at 
each planting. Dreer's Extra Early Pioneer and Pride of 
the Market are planted the same day, as soon as the ground 
can be worked. Two weeks later Shropshire Hero, York- 
shire Hero, Heroine and Bliss' Abundance are put in. This 
planting is repeated every two weeks, until the end of June, 



142 DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 

making about seven plantings in all. None are planted in 
July. In August Extra Early Pioneer is again planted. 
Advance is sometimes used in early spring, next after the 
first varieties. No sticks are used. 

Beans. Red Valentine is the only bush bean used. 
Plantings are made every two v^^eeks, from May until the 15th 
of August. Lima Beans are grown on poles ; also, Old Home- 
stead. The latter is a green-pod, snap-short cluster bean. 

Parsnips, Carrots, Etc. Parsnips, Carrots, Salsify 
and Okra are sowed the same day, in early spring. All are 
planted in rows two feet apart, to permit of horse work. The 
Hollow-crown Parsnip is used ; and Early Half-long Carentan 
is the only Carrot now grown. These roots are buried in the 
open field, or stored in the building already described. 

Sandwich Island Salsify is grown. In the fall it is 
taken up, set at an angle of 45°, and covered with earth, like 
Celery, in the open field. Leaves are afterward put upon 
the heap, to prevent alternate freezing and thawing. 

Improved Green Okra is grown in rows two feet apart, 
with plants a foot apart in the rows. 

Herbs. Basil, Winter and Summer Savory, French 
and English Thyme, Sage, etc., are grown. A bed four or 
five feet wide is laid out in crosswise drills six inches apart. 
The plants are thinned out to an inch or more apart. In 
sowing the seeds a mark is made with a lath, and the seeds 
covered as lightly as possible. Sage and some of the larger 
seeds are sown a little deeper. 

Potatoes. The Early Ohio Potato is used for first crop. 
It is the most prolific and profitable early variety at Harris- 
burg. The ground is given a heavy coat of barnyard manure 
in the fall and plowed. It is again plowed in the spring, and 
a ton per acre of Mapes' Potato Fertilizer is applied. Half 
the fertilizer is spread broadcast and half scattered in the row. 
A chain is afterward dragged along the row, to further scatter 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 143 

the fertilizer before dropping the Potatoes. Ten bushels of 
Potatoes per acre are used for seed purposes. 

Two weeks later the main crop of Potatoes is planted. 
The leading variety is Burbank's Seedling. Carman No. 3 is 
also in favor. The late Potatoes as a rule are put on cornstalk 
ground, and fertilized as above, but have only one plowing. 
The manure is put on the ground in the spring. 

Cabbage. The Cabbages used are Large Wakefield, 
Early Summer, Succession and some Flat Dutch. The Cab- 
bage is either used fresh, made into kraut, or stored for winter. 
For storage the Cabbage is arranged in compact heaps, with 
heads inverted, and covered with hay. A little earth is used 
to keep the hay in place, but it is intended that the Cabbages 
shall freeze solid. They must be kept shaded, which is 
effected by the covering of hay ; but people usually cover too 
deeply with soil. (Harrisburg Note, January 16, 1897 : " One 
or more car loads of Cabbage heads, without stems, in heap 
in open ground, covered merely with hay, apparently in per- 
fect condition.") 

Beets. Three kinds used — Egyptian, Eclipse and Ed- 
mand's. 

Sweet Corn. The first variety planted is Adams' Extra 
Early. It is not sweet, but will stand more cold than any- 
thing else ; planted sometimes in March. The second planting 
is Stabler' s Extra Early and then Country Gentleman ; then 
Stowell's Evergreen until July first. A "good planting" 
of Crosby's Extra Early is put in as late as July 15th or 20th 
— which is seldom caught by frost. 

IvETTucE. Hittinger's Belmont Forcing Lettuce is used 
under glass. Salamander and Improved Hanson are used in 
the open air in early summer. 

Tomatoes. Atlantic Prize and Stone are the main 
open-air varieties. 



144 DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABI^ES. 

Onions. Home-raised onion sets are used ; Prizetaker 
and Silver Skin. Wood ashes is in favor as a top-dressing — 
about 50 bushels of ashes to the acre. 

Kale. Imperial I^ong-standing is the variety used. It 
is sown broadcast, among the corn, after the last working. 
It is not covered or protected during the winter. 

Spinach. Sown broadcast ; sometimes covered lightly 
with straw in winter. 

Radish. White Box is the main reliance, though a 
pound or so of Early Scarlet is sown in spring, as it matures 
ahead of White Box. Round Scarlet China and California 
White Winter are used for fall planting. They are buried in 
the soil, and kept for winter use. They require more covering 
than turnips. 

Turnip. Purple-top White Globe is the main reliance. 
Scarlet Kashmyr is also used. Early Purple-top Milan and 
Early Munich are sown in spring. 

Squash. Crookneck and Boston Marrow are mostly 
planted. 

Celery. Golden Self-Blanching and Giant Pascal are 
mainly grown. The annual planting is 25,000, and it requires 
2500 stalks for a single " mess." 

Cauliflower. Dwarf Erfurt is one of the varieties 
grown. 

Asparagus. Rows six feet apart, with plants 15 to 18 
inches apart in the rows ; two-year old roots preferred. The 
plan is to dig trenches, use manure, and set plants with 
crowns eight inches below the natural level of the ground. 
As the manure decays the crowns sink a little deeper. 

Globe Artichokes. Grown in rows three feet apart, 
with plants two feet apart in the rows. It must be protected 
in the winter. " 



DREER S OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES. 145 

Cardoon. Grown in rows three feet apart, with plants 
a foot apart in rows. Hilled up like Celery, and bleached 
with soil after tying tops together. It is a rank grower, and 
coarse and hard to handle. It grows to a height of four feet. 
Mr. Paget says it " looks like a big thistle, and feels like one, 
too." 

The constant and intense cropping of the Asylum garden 
caused it some years ago to become (in Mr. Paget's language) 
" vegetable sick." It was accordingly moved to new quarters, 
and the old garden allowed to rest. About eighteen acres 
are devoted to high culture, with from two to four crops per 
year. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



OUR WINTER MARKETS. 

A winter market report of to-day would have been sur- 
prising news to our forefathers ; nor is such a report without 
interest to the present generation, for it shows that summer 
and winter and time and distance are fast disappearing as 
controlling factors governing the food supplies of the world. 

The following paragraph is from Garden and Forest, 
published at New York, dated February 17, 1897. It 
is also applicable to the Philadelphia markets : 

J)andelion is now coming from the meadows of New Jersey and from under 
glass, the forced plants being more luxuriant in growth, though not more tender. 
Both Fell for fifteen cents a quart. Other offerings in collections of fresh vegetables 
are spring onions and leeks, chives in little clumps of soil, endive, chervil, fetticus, 
watercress, mint, escarole (a kind of endive), tarragon, parsley and sorrel. Well- 
grown shoots of rhubarb cost ten cents for a bunch of seven ; Boston cucumbers, 
twenty-five cents each. Okra, from Cuba, costs ten cents a dozen, and peppers five 
cents apiece. Shoit plants of celery, from Rochester, New York, sell for seventy- 
five cents a dozen, and the longer ones, from California, beautifully blanched, for 
SI. 00, while the new crop from l<"lorida commands SI. 50. The best cauliflower now 
comes from Florida, large perfectly white heads costing thirty-five cents each ; 
those from California are yellowish after the long journey, and find slight demand. 
Large quantities of spinach and kale have been coming from Norfolk, Virginia, 
one steamer last Saturday bringing 1,400 barrels of spinach and 600 of kale, and the 
receipts of these two vegetables for the week amounted to 11,050 barrels. These 
sell at twenty cents a half-peek. Florida tomatoes cost twenty cents a pound, and 
those from northern hot-houses forty cents. String beans are quite plentiful at 
twenty cents a quart, while southern peas are scarce, and .some from California 
have sold at $1.50 a half-peck. Bi ight, fresh egg plants cost twenty cents each, and 
new beets and kohl-rabi, four in a bunch, ten cents; and among wiuter roots, 
oyster plant and knob celery may be had for the same price. Winter beets, carrots, 
turnips and parsnips are in regular supply. Cabbage, from Lons Island, costs ten 
cents a head, and the red sort brings fifteen cents. There is also Danish cab- 
bage in market, and new eabbage from Florida. Lettuce is coming from Boston 
hot-houses and from Florida and Cuba, and Romaine lettuce from Bermuda. 
Onions, from Bermuda and Havana, bring thirteen cents a quart. Bermuda pota- 
toes Sell for fifty cents, and sweet potatoes, from southern New Jersey, for twenty- 
five cents a half-peck. Mushrooms continue abundant, the best costing but fifty 
cents a pound. Hot-house asparagus is still a luxury, and commands ninety cents 
for a small bunch. 

146 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Anise 124, 128 

Ants :'!■"> 

Aphis, aphides :!-i 

Army worm :'>"i 

Artichoke, Globe lis. Ml 

Artichoke, Jerusalem lis, nil 

Ashes 21t 

Asjiaragus . 40, Ml 

Asparagus beetle ;"''i 

Bacteria 2.') 

Backus, Wm 127 

Balm 129, 130 

Barn vva^te 27 

Beans 75, 78, 142 

Bean pod rust B6 

Bean weevil • 35 

Bene 131, 137 

Berger, J. Milton 47, 51 

Beet. . . Ill, M:; 

Bohlen, Mrs. John. 11'.) 

Borage 131, 137 

Bordeaux mixture 32 

Broccoli 85,87 

Brooks, Thos., Jr 37,83 

Brussels sprouts 88 

Butterfly blossoms 75 

Cabb.ige 82, 143 

Cabbage enemies 35, 36 

Cantaloupe 104 

Caper . « 131, 137 

Caraway 124, 128 

Cardoon 118, IW, 145 

Carrot 124, 142 

Cauliliower 85, 144 

Celeriiic 124, 126 

Celery . . . . . . 47, 124, 144 

Celery leaf blight 36 

Cesspool 27 

Chard Ill 

Chervil 124, 128 

Chicory 118, 120 

Chives 109 

Chufa 131, 137 

Citron 106 

Coll;irils 89 

Complete manures 14 

Composites 9, 118 

Coriander 124, 128 

Corn salad 131 

Cress 89 



PAGE. 

Crosby Brothers 20 

Crucifiers 9,.s] 

Cucumber 105 

Cucumber enemies :;5, 36 

Cumin 124, 12S 

Cut worm 35 

DaCosta, Dr. J. A Ill 

Damping off. 3(i 

Dandelion 118, 120 

Dill 124, 12,S 

Drainage 17 

Dvvyer, Thomas 53, 111 

Egg plant 98 

Elkins, W. L 105 

Embree, Wm. G 21 

Endive 118, 121 

English forcing cucumber .... 1U6 

Fennel 124, 12S 

Fertilizer M 

Fetticus (see corn salad) 

Flea beetle 35 

Frost- proof root house 140 

Fungicides 32 

Fungous diseases 36 

Gardner, John G 21 

Garlic 110 

Gaynor, John 87,88,133 

Geary, Martin 77, 80 

Gherkin 105 

Gombo, (see okra) 

Goosefoot group 9,111 

Gouid 9, 103, 107 

Halsted, Prof. B. D 98 

Hellebore 33 

Herbs 124, 129, 1 12 

Horehonnd 129, 130 

Horseradish 90 

Household waste 24 

Humiflcation 28 

Implements 30 

Ingram, E. T 72 

Irrigation 19, 52 

Insecticides 32, 35 

Insects 34 

Kainit 43 

Kale 91,144 



INDEX. 



Kemble, Mis. Wm. H 
Kerosene emulsion . 
Kohlrabi 



Lavender 129, 1;'.0 

Laying out garden 11 

Leek lOi) 

Lettuce 57, 118, 122, 143 

Lett\ice rot 30 

Lilies in name 9, lOt) 

Lost health 26 

Mangel wurzel Ill, lU 

Markets 39, l-l(j 

Martynia 131, 137 

May beetle 35 

McTigue, Martin 104, 107 

Melon 104 

Melon beetle 35 

Meyer, Max 54, 55 

Mint 10, 129 

Mints, The 129 

Model truck house 37 

Morris, F. W 77 

Mushroom 131, 132 

Muskmelon 104 

Mustard SI, '.»2 

Nasturtium 131, 133 

New Zealand spinach 117 

Nichols, Robert 4(5 

Nightshades 9,») 

Night soil 24 

Okra 131, V?A, 142 

Onion (i3, 144 

Onion enemies' 35, :3(i 

Orachc' Ill 

Osier, B. F 72 

Oyster plant (see salsily) 

Paget, John 140 

Paris green 32 

Parsley 10. 124, 125 

Parsley worm 35 

Parsnip 124, 120, 142 

Peas 75, 141 

Pea weevil 35 

Pepper 99 

Peppergrass S9 

Plant lice 35 

Potato 96, 142 

Potato enemies ...... 35, 36, 37 

Potato onion 65 

Powdery mildew 36 

Pulses 9 

Pumpkin 107, 13S! 

Putrefaction 28 

Pyrethrum 33 



Radish 93, 144 

Radish maggot .55 

Repp, John 21, 22 

Rhubarb 131, 134 

Robertson, \Vm 49 

Root house 140 

Rose bug 35 

Rosemary 129, 130 

Rue 131, 137 

Ruta baga 94 

Sage 129 

Salsify 118,122, 142 

Salsify— black 118, 122 

Sattertbwaite, Edwin 72, 73 

Savory 129, 130 

Schreiber, Ernst 105 

Scullions 67 

Sea kale 95 

Seeds 30 

Shallcross, George 113 

Shallots 65 

Sorrel 131, 135 

Spinach Ill, 115, 144 

Spraying 32 

Squash 107, 108, 138, 144 

Sqiuish vine borer 36 

Strawberry 22, 71 

Sugar beet 114 

Sunflower 118, 123 

Sweet basil 129, 130 

Sweet cicely 124 

Sweet corn 68, 131, 143 

Sweet marjoram 129, 130 

Sueet potato 131, 136 

Sweet potato rot 36 

Tansy 118,123 

Tarragon • • • US, 123 

Thyme 129, 130 

Tomato 99, 143 

Tomato diseases 36, 101 

Transplanting onions 66 

Turnip 94, 1-14 

Turnip-rooted cabbage 91 

Under-glass work 13 

Upland cress 90 

Varnum, C. E 138 

Walker, Samuel 97 

Ward, John 119 

Watercress 89 

Waters, Samuel 1'''' 

Watermelon lO'i 

Wire worms ■'<' 

Wormwood 118, 123 



Advertisement 



DREER'S LIBRARY 

3 useful books-all illustrated 

VEGETABLES UNDER GLASS 
OPEN-AIR VEGETABLES 
GRASSES AND CLOVERS 

Only 25 cents each, by mail. 



"Vegetables Under Glass" gives best methods of winter 

work in frames, liot-beds and greenhouses, and includes talks with 
expert New England growers. 

"Open-Air Vegetables" gives best methods of summer 
work, and contains many quotations from Philadelphia marl-cet gardeners. 

"Grasses and Clovers" enumerates and pictures the 
European and American hay and forage plants, and has a special 
chapter on lawn-making and management. 



HENRY A. DREER, Philadelphia. 






'^^.^Z'^-^ 



^'2^'2:^:'^'r^''^'r^^ir\;^. 









^^^'^c;^^?^?^^;^;)^^; 



^^■?Rs^< «i^,^,a 









^^^^^;!v^v^ 






'^Hi*. V 



■^^ >^-^/^*/^^A -/^M/?^. 



^^,'^^^„^^r^^■^^M^/^<fe. 






-vS^^^^ 



^^^aAAa^a 






'^^<^a.,^VJ'^:«S?^, 



^V^WO^^OcP^c^^ 



Af ^A^^M*^*^,,^>^w-, 



^^'^r^rv^- 



